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Oblivion: Wrath of Akatosh

Posted in the collab :)

Oblivion: Wrath of Akatosh

There we go! Sorry it took a little while.

Oblivion: Wrath of Akatosh

Hello all! Sorry for the delays, I shall pop in tonight, it's been quite a week for me and it temporarily devoured my attention.

Oblivion: Wrath of Akatosh

Dalnoria Sarys

Three days afore...

Dalnoria sat on a small bench beneath one of the many white statues of the Imperial city, with her back to the steeple of White Gold Tower and the Imperial City. She wrote her notes with her magic quill, causing a quiet scratching noise as she scribbled and tried to decipher what she had seen. Other than that, it was remarkably quiet and peaceful outside the walls of the Imperial City. The bustle and flow of people was confined to the inside and the main road, which meant that sitting a short way around the side was remarkably cool and calm. The occasional resident on a stroll passed her by, of course - it was a city after all - but most preferred to take their strolls within the more even and better tamed grounds of the Arboretum.

She recalled the dream vividly as if it had been as real as the bench she sat on; The bleached bones of the people had sat under the harsh sky and the city burned to ash. Above it all had stood the four armed monster - Mehrunes Dagon, for that surely was he, the thrice cursed second corner of the House of Troubles.

Yet for all the slaughter and danger that her dream - perhaps more accurately called her vision or her premonition - had shown her, it had given her scant clues on where to begin searching for this danger or how to deal with it. Kvatch, the Imperial City, with the Emperor or the Blades or in a cave full of bandits - it was not exactly as clear as it could be. The true threat was daedric in origin, that much was certain, which likely meant a cult or some angry wizard which she suppose would be the strange robed figures that she saw. But just how much of the vision was literal and how much metaphor? Could the vision of dragons truly be literal even after they had been gone for so long, or were they all just representative aspects of Akatosh or the dragonborn emperors? Too many questions and too few answers.

The two cities had seemed like the best place to start and yet there was not much useful that she could think of that should have set them in the same vision. She had seen a temple in the vision - a chapel and not the highly distinct Temple of the One. The voice had told her Julianos but Julianos had his Great Chapel in Skingrad for as long as she could remember - and she could remember far indeed. So how did Julianos factor into this.

As for the danger that had been seen, well, Mehrunes Dagon had walked the world before, of course - and back then it had taken two of the Tribunes at their height to cast him back into the waters of Oblivion. Sotha Sil had not been seen in an age and it was rumoured that Almalexia too now had disappeared - certainly, she had said and done nothing since the return of the Nerevarine. Even Vivec - who was at least still present from what rumours could piece together - hid himself away in his palace and did little more than that.

Perhaps it had been true that the return of the Nerevarine spelt the end of Morrowind's living gods - and if so, what was left that might contend with the will of a Daedric Prince made flesh? The Aedra did not take form as the Daedra did, they could not directly contend the will of a prince. There was hope that the vision of him had been naught but metaphor, but she didn't feel comfortable trusting the gate of Tamriel to hope.

You have been chosen, the voice had said; Given those circumstances, she would rather have been unchosen.

Though for all her fear and haste, now that she was here everything in Cyrodiil seemed so frustratingly normal. The Emperor sat on his throne - as far as Dalnoria could tell, there was no imposter this time - and the Capital milled about its business without any sign of daedric interreference or angry four armed Destroyers striding over its walls. Her investigations had turned up nothing of note and earned her nothing but a guards angry admonishment of her for loitering around in the Imperial Palace. So far the only thing that stood out as destructive was the highwayman that had accosted her on the road and received a very nasty first degree burn for his trouble - but footpads and other such common thugs were hardly agents of Mehrunes Dagon about to bring down the Imperial City.

Dalnoria had been half been tempted to try and warn the Emperor about the impending invasion in the hopes that they might at least prepare for the onslaught even if she could not locate it, but it was hardly as if she was going to be able to secure an audience with the Emperor by showing up squealing about visions in her head and the threat posed by a daedric invasion of Cyrodiil - She was sure more than enough madmen had attempted to petition the Emperor that the palace guard would toss her straight into the Imperial Prison.

She supposed she could break into his chambers at night, awaken him in the bed and pontificate to him then. Of course, if he didn't believe her - and who was inclined to belief a raving lunatic who broke into their bedroom - she would then be truly and utterly stuffed. She didn't fancy her chances against a Daedric horde from a prison cell - especially if the Guards grew antsy and decided to behead the Sorcerer to be safe.

She had wondered for a while if there were other ways to achieve this goal. If she were more suited to deception, she might even try to worm her way into the good graces of the Imperial Court off the back of her status as a sage. Alas, her name did not carry her weight behind it and she suspected that it would be a waste of her time to do so.

Yet she couldn't shake the sense that there was an air of - fate and destiny surrounding the Emperor and the Amulet of Kings in her vision. If there was any truth to the religion of the Nedes descendants, then the covenant between Akatosh and Alessia should have prevented the imposition of such a Daedric Horde onto Tamriel (Of course, it should also have prevented the summoning of lesser daedra and undead spirits too, so Dalnoria put little stock in this claim. Yet there was not smoke without fire, the legends and myths often contained a small nugget of the truth within them.) but beyond that she could gather no clear indication of what she should be looking otu for.

She grunted in annoyance as she scratched out a previous pet theory and looked up, peering out over Lake Rumare as its surface shimmered and glittered in the sunlight.

Perhaps she was being too literal with her interpretation of the vision, maybe there existed some more subtle and hidden messages within. Clearly, there had been unmistakable symbolism within the dream itself. If the Amulet of Kings was not physically lost then perhaps the things that she had seen in the vision were more about what they represented that the physical beings themselves.

The Amulet of Kings ran deep in Imperial and wider mannish culture after all; It was not for nothing that it was once described as the heart and soul of men. Perhaps its presence in the vision was more figurative than little, representing the danger to the beating heart of the Empire and by proxy the danger to the hearts of all men. Or maybe it was to suggest a corruption of their soul. The Empire had once become corrupted and aligned with Daedra, and the worst of them all at that. Could it be that some desperate madness might turn brother against brother again? Had someone in the Imperial Court turned to Mehrunes Dagon to drive forward their ambition? It was certainly possible and wouldn't be the first time the Imperial City played host to ill advised and disastrous schemes.

If she were to consider a figurative and metaphorical level then even the vision of the Padomaic could have wider implications of its own. After all, Mehrunes Dagon was not merely the Prince of Destruction, his domain included change, revolution and chaos. Another interregnum would serve just that purpose. That would further explain the importance of the Emperor in the vision - but assuming it didn't happen in the battle for the Imperial City itself, what could possibly wipe out a dynasty so thoroughly?

There was the possibility that it had already been wiped out. There were rumours years ago that the Emperor's Heirs had all been replaced by dopplegangers by Jagar Tharn during the Imperial Simulacrum. Dalnoria did not suspect that to be any more than idle rumours though, for the Mages Guild would have long since detected such deception. She didn't think even Jagar Tharn could have kept such a back up plan hidden in plain sight for four decades, and so even if Uriel's sickness returned and granted him an untimely death, the line of succession was arranged and should go smoothly.

Dalnoria sighed as the questions without answers continued to vex her. She had been chosen to influence these events in some way, and there had to be some clue buried within as to how she should do that. Even whether these visions were a sign of things that will be or things that may be was clearly not for her to know. She had to hope for the latter and prepare for the former and in that case. Providence could be strange like that.

She stopped short as the splashing of a slaughterfish drew her attention. She looked down to the shoreline to see a fish flopping desperately on the beach; What had driven it to beach itself to begin with was beyond her, a mistake perhaps.

Dalnoria raised her hand and cast telekinesis - she daren't handle the vicious thing with her hands - tossing it back into the water.

A mistake on the part of the fish but a boon for her mind.

Maybe she was vexing herself by over thinking the dream, maybe she was thinking too narrowly, focusing too much on the Imperial City and not enough on Kvatch. She had splashed out of the water and onto the beach. After all, had she not felt something change when she saw Akatosh, a subtle difference in the passage of time, as though it had stopped and then begun to move again? That was when she saw Kvatch.

If the Dragon was truly Akatosh, god of time itself, then didn't it make sense that time would apply differently in his presence. If the order of the events in the dream were reversed then the beginning was the end and the end was the beginning, and that meant that she should begin at Kvatch. Whether Kvatch was the beginning of the problem or solution she could not yet say but with her options exhausted here, what other choice did she have? She was as that fish out of water.

Dalnoria snapped her notes shut and stuffed it back into her leather rucksack. She practically leapt to her feet and moved briskly towards the stable to retrieve Rils.

Onward to Kvatch then.

***

1st Last Seed, 3E 433

As Dalnoria rode down the Gold Road, well away from the Imperial City and travelling swiftly towards Kvatch, the sight of the mighty seated atop its hill drifted into view over the trees. Although its majesty paled in comparison to the Imperial City, she could appreciate it all the same. An eagle soared over her head, flying towards the distant city with a screech.

Eagles, the ancient Aldmeri Symbol for the Aedra and ascension. Not of her faith or culture of course, for the Aedra themselves were not, and she knew better than to ascribe the presence of an animal as some form of divine intervention. No, the Aedra did not work that way, they were distant gods who did not answer their mortals more often than not. At least the Daedra answered - and when giving orders, tended to provide clearer instructions.

It took her a mere further half hour to reach the city and have her horse turned over to the safe keeping of the stables. Cost her two of the coins from her purse as well and she became acutely aware of her rapidly dwindling financial situation. Staying in the Imperial City had not been cheap - and staying long in Kvatch would not be either.

Dalnoria sighed heavily; She would have to seek some form of income before long. Perhaps she could brew and sell a few potions on for a pretty penny; She had passed some blackberry bushes and aloe vera on the way into town. Together, they would provide a potion to stave off weariness, and she knew Cairn Bolete would grow in any of the caves nearby. Pasted Cairn Bolete and Aloe Vera extract would produce a fine healing salve. She could set out to gather some the following day and have the potions ready by the evening.

Dalnoria could hear the crowds and celebrations even before she passed through the city gates. She couldn't recall any holidays that fell on the 1st of Last Seed - not in Cyrodiil at least. A nearby flyer gave her the information she required; The Counts Summer Games, apparently. Dalnoria gave a wry smile as she read over the ostentatious poster - someone had spent a lot of money on these games indeed if even the posters were so elaborate. She had seen this political tactic many times before, of course, it was just Kwama Eggs and Theatres.

Of course, such games meant that there would be all kinds of strangers in the city. In some ways this was both good and bad; It was the perfect time for people like her to blend in and watch without attracting any unwanted attention to herself - and on the flip side of that, it was also the perfect time for anyone with nefarious schemes to blend in as well. Dalnoria peered around the plaza for a moment and then wrapped her travelling cloak around her.

She also didn't dare to think of what this meant for vacancies at the inns and other places of rest. Perhaps Akatosh ought have provided her with divine directions to an inn room while he was at it...

Oblivion: Wrath of Akatosh

An interesting first post. Its too bad for Kvatch that those summer games will be book ended by disaster.

So what're people's thoughts, should we all start and coalesce in Kvatch and get ourselves tangled up in the gate opening then? I can't imagine all of our characters sharing one cell in the imperial prison to trip Oblivion's opening sequence, so unless the GMs want a more criminally inclined character to pull that duty (or who knows, a dutiful and upstanding character being somehow roped in as another Ad Hoc bodyguard for old Uriel), I'm guessing the GMs already have a plan for how the info of Martin's illegitimacy reaches us and him.

Just trying to get my bearings for a first post and want to make sure I set Dalnoria on the right path, don't want to accidentally create a situation where some of us are rapidly riding across Cyrodiil to catch up to the plot goings on!

Oblivion: Wrath of Akatosh

Dalnoria Sarys

Dalnoria Sarys

_{"Consider your end, mortal." - Tribunal Aphorism}

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___________________________________ P R O F I L E Known as Dalnoria Sarys Height 5'4 Weight 115 lbs Gender Woman Race Dunmer Age 556 (Born 2e 773) Birthsign Atronach ___________________________________ C A P A B I L I T I E S Deity Julianos Attributes MAJOR: Intelligence minor: Willpower Skills Conjuration (Expert) Alteration (Journeyman) Destruction (Journeyman) Alchemy (Apprentice) Mysticism (Apprentice) Restoration (Apprentice) Illusion (Novice) Spells (While I am assembling this spell list, I am including custom spells calculated to skill levels by the magicka costs of the effects in game, as the link to the spell making page appears to be an instruction to do it in that manner. As such, this spell making below makes use of the mechanics with regards to durations, for example the cheaper cost of damage over time spells vs straight damage spells to create more damaging effectives at an accessible level. I have avoided what I consider to be spellmaking cheese (The obvious exploit being stacking weakness to magicka spells followed by drain health which will tactically nuke just about anything in the game at low cost) but I understand that what is using spell making as intended vs cheese is open to debate and the impossibility of balancing it is one of the reasons Bethesda yeeted the entire system come Skyrim and that these customs spells are thus at the mercy of the GMs. Forgive me if there's any mistakes in how certain spells work, it has been many years since I played unmodded oblivion.) Alteration Guard Open Easy Lock Open Average Lock Water Breathing Sea Stride Lighten Load Open Very Easy Lock Protect Other Lock Splitter -Open Lock 70 Pts on target (148.349199) (148.349199, Journeyman Level, 118.679359 after minimum skill modification) Fifth Barrier -Shield 50 pts for 20 seconds on self (134.562521) (134.562521, Journeyman Level, 107.650017 after minimum skill modification) Elemental Barrier -Fire Shield 15pts for 15 seconds on self (45.6259243) -Frost Shield 15pts for 15 seconds on self (45.6259243) -Shock Shield 15pts for 15 seconds on self (45.6259243) (136.877773, Journeyman Level, 109.502218 after minimum skill modification) Total Effect: Shield 45%, Resist Fire 15%, Resist Frost 15%, Resist Shock 15% Fire Barrier -Fire Shield 30 Pts for 15 Seconds on self (110.797528) (110.797528, Journeyman Level, 88.6380224 after minimum skill Modification) Total Effect; Shield 30%, Resist Fire 30% Fire Barrier (Dunmer) -Fire Shield 25 Pts for 15 Seconds on self (87.7360495) -Shield 5 pts for 15 Seconds on Self (5.29645612) (93.03250562, Journeyman Level, 74.43 after minimum skill Modification) Total Effect; Shield 30%, Resist Fire 25% Frost Barrier -Frost Shield 30 Pts for 15 Seconds on self (110.797528) (110.797528, Journeyman Level, 88.6380224 after minimum skill Modification) Total Effect; Shield 30%, Resist Frost 30% Lightning Barrier -Shock Shield 30 Pts for 15 Seconds on self (110.797528) (110.797528, Journeyman Level, 88.6380224 after minimum skill Modification) Total Effect; Shield 30%, Resist Shock 30% Conjuration Summon Spider Daedra Superior Bound Armor Bound Sword Bound Dagger Dismiss Undead Summon Daedroth Summon Headless Zombie Summon Skeleton Guardian Summon Faded Wraith Summon Frost Atronach Summon Flame Atronach Summon Dremora Summon Scamp Summon Ghost Summon Ancestor Guardian (Racial) Summon Horde of Southern Demons - Summon Frost Atronach for 20 Seconds (205.99) - Summon Flame Atronach for 20 Seconds (90) - Summon Scamp for 20 Seconds (60) (350.99, Expert Level. 175.495 after minimum skill modification) Lesser Summon Storm Atronach - Summon Storm Atronach for 30 seconds (350) (350, Expert Level, 175 after minimum skill modification) The Danse Macabre - Summon Skeleton for 20 Seconds (22.5) - Summon Skeleton Guardian for 20 Seconds (65) - Summon Skeleton Hero for 20 Seconds (132) - Summon Zombie for 20 Seconds (33.34) - Summon Headless Zombie for 20 Seconds (112) (364.84, Expert Level. 182.42 after minimum skill modification) Repel the Dead - Turn Undead up to Level 25 for 30 Seconds on Target (135.609653) (135.609563, Journeyman Level, 67.8 after minimum skill modification) Circle of Protection - Turn Undead up to Level 12 for 25 Seconds on Touch in 30 Feet (139.608616) (139.608616, Journeyman Level, 69.8 after minimum skill modification) Greater Circle of Protection - Turn Undead up to Level 25 for 25 Seconds on Touch in 30 Feet (339.024134, Expert Level, 169.51 after minimum skill modification) Destruction Weakness to Magicka Withering Touch Weakness to Poison Weakness to Fire Weakness to Frost Weakness to Shock Winter's Grasp Lightning Grasp Searing Grasp Wizard's Fury (Journeyman) - Cascading Vulnerability - Weakness to Magicka 100% for 7 Seconds on Touch (72.615611) - Weakness to Fire 100% for 7 seconds on touch (25.4154638) - Weakness to Frost 100% for 7 seconds on touch (25.4154638) - Weakness to Shock 100% for 7 seconds on touch (25.4154638) (139.785051, Journeyman spell, 111.83 after minimum skill modification) Vulnerability to Magic - Weakness to Magicka 100% for 10 Seconds on Touch (90.7695137) (90.7695137, journeyman spell, 72.62 after minimum skill modification) Bolt of Vulnerability - Weakness to Magicka 100% for 10 Seconds on Target (136.154271) (136.154271, journeyman spell, 108.923417after minimum skill modification) Elemental Vulnerability - Weakness to Fire 100% for 10 seconds on touch (36.3078055) - Weakness to Frost 100% for 10 seconds on touch (36.3078055) - Weakness to Shock 100% for 10 seconds on touch (36.3078055) (108.923417, Journeyman Spell, 87.14 after minimum skill modification) Elemental Vulnerability Bolt - Weakness to Fire 100% for 8 seconds on Target(43.5693666) - Weakness to Frost 100% for 8 seconds on Target(43.5693666) - Weakness to Shock 100% for 8 seconds on Target(43.5693666) (130.7081, Journeyman Spell, 104.56 after minimum skill modification) Grasp of Tel Sarys - Fire Damage 5 pts for 8 seconds on touch (47.0796099) - Frost Damage 5 pts for 8 seconds on touch (46.4518818) - Shock Damage 5 pts for 8 seconds on touch (48.9627943) (142.494286, Journeyman spell, 113.99 after minimum skill modification) Total Damage: 40 Fire, 40 Frost, 40 Shock Finger of Tel Sarys - Fire Damage 5 pts for 5 seconds on Target(44.1371343) - Frost Damage 5 pts for 5 seconds on Target (43.5486392) - Shock Damage 5 pts for 5 seconds on Target (45.9026197) (133.588393, Journeyman Spell, 106.87 after minimum skill modification) Total Damage: 25 Fire, 25 Frost, 25 Shock Finger of Contempt: - Fire Damage 18 pts seconds on Target(45.4884699) - Frost Damage 18 pts on Target (44.881957) - Shock Damage 18 pts on Target (47.3080087) (137.678436, Journeyman Spell, 110.142749 after minimum skill modification) Total Damage: 18 Fire, 18 Frost, 18 Shock Illusion Alluring Gaze Frenzy Illuminate Inspiration Blink -Invisibility for 6 Seconds on Self (24) (24, Novice Spell, 26.688 after maximum skill modification) Mysticism Soul Trap Remote Manipulation Major Life Detection Major Dispel Dispel Other Restoration Convalescence Cure Paralysis Cure Poison Heal Major Wounds Leech Health Major Respite Leap of Faith - Fortify Acrobatics 60 points for 5 seconds on self (56.6441227) (56.6441227, Apprentice Spell, 62.31 after minimum skill modification) Vampiric Touch - Absorb health 5 pts for 5 seconds on touch (62.7728132) (62.7728132, Apprentice Spell, 69.05 after minimum skill modification) Total Effect Absorb Health 25 Sustained Leech - Absorb health 2 pts for 15 seconds on touch (58.2813545) (58.2813545, Apprentice Spell, 64.10 after minimum skill modification) Total Effect Absorb Health 30 ___________________________________ I N V E N T O R Y Weapons and tools Staff of Storms Mortar and Pestle Alembic Calcinator Retort Outfit Dalnoria does not wear armour so as to avoid any drawbacks to her channeling of the arcane, but rather when out adventuring wears a simple set of brown leather travelling garments with a cloak and hood for when it rains. When she isn't travelling however, she has much finer tastes; She was, after all, born into privilege and is accustomed to it. She likes fine silk and velvet robes and dresses, and she has a particular fondness for the colour blue. Consumables Strong Potion of Sorcery Potion of Sorcery (x2) Weak Potion of Healing Greef Valuables Septims (84) Silver Necklace Crystal Ball Petty Soul Gem Misc Enchanted Quill that conjures its own ink A treated leather rucksack to carry her things in A horse (A gelding named "Rels", more suitable for Cyrodiil than a Guar) and leather saddle bags A large notebook used for note and research for her latest book Bag with travel rations ___________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________ APPEARANCE Like many Telvanni Wizards, Dalnoria is notably older than she first appears; Though she is at least a century past the allotted life span of a Dunmer, she most closely resembles a middle aged Dunmer with thin wrinkles forming out around the eyes and mouth and the beginnings of frown marks on her forehead. Like most her kindred, she has ashen blue skin, dark eyes and sharply pointed ears. Her long hair, in which she often wears a white lily or similar flower, comes down past her shoulders - hardly fit for adventuring in truth - and is copper in colour and parted on the left side. The arching of her brow pulls her face in such a way that she has a stern resting face, though it does soften considerably whenever she smiles. She is rather plain Dunmer with dull and oddly slanted eyes and a small, stubby nose, scarcely someone who would draw a second glance in a similarly attired crowd. As a curious feature, Dalnoria lacks a navel; Sustained and grown by magic during her fetal development, she never had an umbilical cord and so subsequently, never had a properly developed navel. She is keenly aware of this physical abnormality and irrationally ashamed by its existence. ____________________________________________________________________________ MOTIVATION AND OUTLOOK A Scholar at her core, Dalnoria Sarys was always driven forwards by a desire to understand the world and document its histories and mysteries. She sees herself as something as a chronicler, making her way through the long years of world and writing down what transpires for future generations to reflect upon. Though by no means as powerful a wizard as either of her parents, she is well content with the power that she has; She has seen what the Telvanni's constant pursuit of power has wrought upon both themselves and their people and has little desire to follow that same path of folly. That goes doubly for political power, for she would rather be a fly on the wall in the meeting of the powerful than occupy a seat at its table. Although she has long travelled the world to chronicle its events and study the ruins of those long passed from it, she does try not to become detached from the problems of the world and sink into a self absorbed and arbitrary belief system; To Dalnoria, indifference and alienation leads to destructive tendencies. How successful she has been in combating this detachment and arbitrariness is debateable. Still, she will help people out where she can in her travels, using her magic and herbalism to heal injuries and treat illnesses, as well as to drive away the occasional bandit raid or goblin tribe. She keeps up with the news of whatever surrounding area she is in to that end- and to help herself avoid getting caught off guard by marauders. The dreams that she has had can mean one of two things - and she is not sure which disturbs her more deeply. Either the slow march of time is finally claiming her sanity, or there is a terrible evil lurking within Cyrodiil that will kill tens of thousands of people, if not more. Her ethical position is highly consequentialist; Actions are good or bad based on the consequences of those actions. One can use a bad deed, such as murder or thievery, for a good cause. Good consequences are those which spread knowledge and truth, which keep people safe and which spread contentment among the mortal races - in that specific order. ____________________________________________________________________________ HISTORY Dalnoria was created by the Master Wizard Neveresa Sarys and her paramour, then spellwright Galos Othril. Like most powerful Telvanni wizards, the two had become keen to avoid death and had sought out the secrets of life extension. Telvanni wizards were not in the business of sharing this knowledge with each other and Neveresa - the elder of the two by a considerable few decades - grew increasingly desperate. Galos devotion to his lover knew no bounds, although one would not be wrong in suggesting that the foundation of this relationship was inherently toxic given the significant difference in age, rank and social standing of the two, and the circumstances of their meeting. The two had spent many, many years seeking out the secrets of immortality via the alchemical arts and eventually did succeed in putting a stopper in their death and apparent ageing. By that time, however, both had already stretched their lifespan thin, having extended it with necromancy and alteration to try and stave off their demise. As a result of these many varying treatments, Neveresa proved unable to carry a child to term despite many attempts. With Neveresa stubbornly refusing to allow another Mer to carry her child, the two spent nearly a century researching the early stages of life and growth- research that in truth involved some less than savoury experiments and no shortage of pain, hardship and failed attempts. Putting what they had learnt to the test, the two Telvanni were able to remove the fertilised egg and suspend it within amniotic fluid contained within a large glass ball; Through profane magics, they were able to sustain and grow this embryo at an unnatural speed. After the first three months, they extracted the 'baby' from within and lay it to rest within a crib. Its skin was little more than a translucent film that could have been destroyed with but a rough rub. She lay within that crib for many months, slowly nursed by various alchemical mixtures and the attentive care of her parents until eventually she looked as a Dunmer babe ought look. It was in these days that she manifested her birth sign, the Atronach - A manifestation that almost lead to her death as she kept inadvertantly absorbing the magical spells intended to sustain her. Growing up in Tel Sarys, the mushroom tower and castle town of Mistress Neveresa, Dalnoria found herself surrounded by strange and terrifying magical wonders from an early age. Galos Othril was a superb alchemist and gardener, counted among the best in Morrowind and beyond. Dalnoria never acquired his aptitude with potions or his green thumb with plants. Neversa Sarys could not have been more opposite, with little skill in alchemy or care for growing things, she was a master of destruction and conjuration who could call forth hordes of Daedric servants and lay waste to entire villages. Even so, both doted upon the child they had created. Unlike her parents, it was not in a particular field of practical magical application that Dalnoria excelled in but rather in the study of lore. Dalnoria studied the arcane, languages and history intensively and was captivated by the histories of ancient and lost civilisations such as those of the Dwemer and the Ayleids. Throughout her first century, the young Dunmer threw herself into her studies and assisted more and more with the experiments of her parents, seeing first hand their attempts to carve out a demiplane within one of the many abandoned planes of oblivion and their efforts to shore it up against Realm Rips and Roamvers. It is unsurprising to say that they never succeeded in this task. Nonetheless, Dalnoria showed aptitude for conjuration and handling Daedra during this time. Dalnoria's life with her parents was as content as it could be for such a bizarre and dysfunctional family. Dalnoria never doubted that her parents loved her in their own strange way - though their love was possessive and prescriptive and she often questioned if they had any idea what was truly best for her. If things had gone more smoothly and if they had had their way, the family structure would likely have been maintained unchanged to this day despite the passage of centuries. When she was fifty, her parents created another dose of the elixir they had used to slow their own ageing to a crawl and had their daughter drink it, coupling it with long and elaboration alteration spells. Over the coming weeks they had instructed Dalnoria on how to maintain this existence using the magical arts. Dalnoria has sometimes wondered over the centuries if it would have been wiser to refuse that gift and let nature take its course on her. Certainly, she would be dead by now - and if by some miracle she was not, she would have been decrepit and as elderly as they come, for few even among Elves lived this long naturally - but sometimes she wonders if it would be preferable to the risk that she will lose herself in the years as all Telvanni seem fated to. Time is as cruel a master to its slaves as any one of House Dres is to theirs. As she learnt more about the chaos of the world and the many disasters that befell it - the many ravaging plagues that passed, the conquests of Tiber Septim and the rise of Sixth House cultists and supposed 'heirs' of the Tribe Unmourned - it began to dawn on her that the Telvanni's hoarding of power was ultimately all for nothing; It was undeniable that they had great power, indeed their powers were so great that all feared them and few dared to impose upon them. Even the Tribunal Temple had a tendency to let sleeping dogs lie provided there was no open and blatant heresy among the Telvanni and the Empire of Tamriel was cautious in their dealings with the ancient wizards and often seemed to turn a blind eye to the blatantly illegal practices the Telvanni engaged in (For example, there was no shortage of slaves brought in from foreign lands under dubious circumstances traded in Telvanni territory. So long as the Telvanni payed lip service to the idea that their slaves were all legal and above board, nobody seemed to press them on it too heavily. Considering what had happened with the Telvanni and the Ebonheart Pact during the Second Era, slavery among the Telvanni seemed like it would be eternal regardless of what laws were passed) - no doubt worried about the potential problems a gaggle of angry sorcerers might cause them if poked too hard. Yet for all this power and potential, the Telvanni's stubborn refusal to leave their towers and holdings and their total commitment to their own petty squabbles rather than the true problems that faced Morrowind and Mundus were so obvious and crippling that Dalnoria began to wonder if they would even notice if the world itself ended. What was the point of all that power if it was never going to be used? When Dalnoria was 160, her mother got into a heated scholarly debate with another Master Wizard, Atheron. As debates within House Telvanni often do, it devolved into insults and eventually open attempts on each others lives. By the end of her duel with Magister Atheron, a finger was all that was left of Neveresa Sarys - and before that finger was even cold, Galos Othril swore revenge. War broke out between Master Galos of Tel Sarys and Master Atheron of Tel Ouada. Daedra were sucked out from the waters of oblivion and ravaged across each others land, clashing and slaughtering with summoned minions of the enemy. Both sent assassins after the other, and no less than two small farming villages were displaced as battle grounds while retainers and mercenaries were killed by their dozens on both sides. A small battle by the standards of Tamriel - but none the less a shocking example of the excesses of callous wizards with too much power and too few scruples. This insanity raged on for half a year before Galos, through duplicitous means, finally managed to kill Atheron; He forged false documentation for his own forces, making it appear as though he had a deep interest in an ancient ruin and placed rumours that he believed the famous Ring of Equity to be within. In truth, of course, Galos did not have and had never even seen the Ring of Equity but both he and Atheron knew enough about it to know that if one of them were to obtain it, it would spell certain doom for the other. And so Galos had his servants hide a false Ring of Equity and had a facade of an archaeological dig set up, hoping that Atheron would take the bait. Sure enough, the Telvanni master did; he and his spellwrights slaughtered their way into the old Velothi tower and down into its subterranean, where they fought their way through the daedric guardians that Galos had bound as part of the illusion and secured what they believed to be the Ring of Equity. In a moment of Triumph, Atheron slipped the ring upon his finger - only to fall in a heap to the floor, writhing in agony as cursed ring ripped his soul from his body and warped his flesh, causing cancerous growths across his body. His corpse ended up so bloated and deformed in the end up that his servants could not even pull the ring from his finger and opted to cut it off in a vain attempt to save the magister. When the news reached Galos, safe within his velvet keep of Tel Sarys, he smiled and toasted a feast with a glass of vintage brandy. Jokingly, he offered his guests enchanted rings. They all declined. Dalnoria had seen what became of her mother and how her father had reacted. She had watched in horror as hundreds had died or been displaced from their lands over what had started as a dispute of metaphysical formulae. People she had known from the garrison and town surrounding Tel Sarys had died in the pointless conflict. Try as she might, she could find no closure in what had happened. Revenge brought no closure to her father either, despite his desperate attempts to revel in it. As the decades dragged on, more and more of the mortal servants within Tel Sarys died or moved off and were not replaced by its new Master; Galos now preferred to surround himself with Dremora and Daedra, or refurbished animunculi. As such, Tel Sarys felt ever more lonely as the wizards withdrew and the ghosts of the past lingered. Dalnoria watched the world change around them. The damage wrought upon it by people like Atheron, like Neveresa and Galos - like herself even, for she had assisted in summoning the daedra during that ghastly war - gradually healed. The villages they had displaced had long since been resettled and the dispute disappeared into history, lost among the many hundreds of examples of Telvanni infighting over the ages. A century of isolation with her father followed, filled with desperate attempts to reach out to him and change him. It eventually dawned on her that there was no good she could do for Galos Othril. The old wizard still loved her, it was true, but there was no healing in his mind. As he withdrew further and further, he coveted and possessed all those things that reminded him of Neveresa and that century and a half they had all spent together as a family and used it to live in the past. Dalnoria was one of those things; When he looked at her, he did not see her as she was but as she had been. When he walked the halls of Tel Sarys, he did not see it as it was but as it had been. As Dalnoria tells it, she could think of only one thing that might shake the wizard from his madness; Suspecting her presence to be unhealthy and unhelpful to him, she abandoned him and left Tel Sarys behind her, hoping it might force him from the tower and into the world so that he might finally exit his shell and realise what he had become. As far as Dalnoria knows, he never did and remains cooped up in his tower to this day. As she set out to see the world again, her travels first took her across her homeland of Morrowind. Though the talents of conjuration were tolerated within the confines of the Telvanni district of Morrowind, the other great houses and the Temple bore little love for it. Telvanni wizards were feared by the common folk and so she found little trust when she introduced herself as such - and found even less love when she did not, leading people to look upon her as some witch or daedric cultist. The Empire of Tiber Septim had only just come out of the War of the Red Diamond and staggered out of the other end into an uncertain and unstable future. Legionaries were still hunting run away traitors from the war across the face of Tamriel and for a while, Dalnoria believed that the Empire was doomed to implode under its own crushing weight. The subsequent reign of Pelagius the Mad did little to change her mind. Her adventures across Morrowind were academically eventful but are hardly interesting in a chronicle of history. Suffice it to say that, delving into the ruins of the Dwemer, the many Daedric ruins that dotted the province and the old fortresses of the Dunmer, she gathered together a great many tomes upon the history of these civilisations - as best she could figure it, at least. Publication of these tomes proved difficult at times. In the case of Daedric ruins in particular, the Tribunal Temple proved an irritating thorn in her side. A great many of her works upon both the old and ongoing customs of the Dunmer in regards to the Daedra found themselves on the wrong end of some two bit Temple censor who wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between a cursed gem and an ordinary one had his life depended on it. One such Temple swit even sent an Ordinator to keep an eye on her during one of her excavations, seemingly under the impression that she was actually skulking off to sell souls to Mehrunes Dagon or convert the local population to the worship of House of Troubles. Having grown sick of the constant meddling of the overbearing Temple authorities, Dalnoria began to consider broadening her horizons beyond the Velothi and Valus mountains. By this time, Emperor Pelagius the Mad had passed away within his asylum and the crown of the Empire had fallen to the Dark Elf Katariah, wife of the late Pelagius. Controversial at the start of her reign, Dalnoria thought to see what a Cyrodiil under the control of a Dark Elf might look. She crossed beyond the borders from Morrowind to Cyrodiil and had hoped that would be the end of furious denunciations of her as some practitioner of the black arts. Alas, it was not so; She came to learn the truth behind the words of Divayth Fyr that 'petty local officials, regardless of race or culture, are universally suspicious and ill-informed. "A sorcerer, eh?," they say. "Well, we'll have none of your raising the dead in this jurisdiction, is that understood?"' Now, of course it was true that she *had* dabbled with the use of Daedric Spirits for animating the corpses of the dead and it was equally true that she had called upon the ancestor spirits to protect her - as, it ought be noted, many Dunmer did and yet did not regard as necromancy - but truly, it was hardly as if she were creeping off into cemeteries in the dead of night to dig up the putrefying corpses of mothers as some people seemed to believe! Whatever the case, she carried about her studies and research as best she could. The suspicion of locals and the constant need to assuage their fears whenever she travelled to a new town or village was nothing compared to the constant scrutiny of the Temple and so she found it to be a worthwhile trade all the same. Local branches of the Mages Guild, whenever it learnt of an enterprising sorcerer poking around between old ruins, occasionally did send some member to check that everything was above board - and she got very good at hiding anything which *wasn't*, such as the odd artefact smuggling here and there. That wasn't too difficult to deal with, however; The Imperial lackeys were still far more understanding and accommodating than the Temple had ever been. Throughout Katariah's reign, Dalnoria watched and chronicled as the mer fought the elder council tooth and nail on every issue. Empress Katariah's reign was a prosperous one and the mer travelled far around her realm, proving herself to be a shrewd diplomat, a cunning politician and a keen mind. When news of her death in a supposed minor skirmish in Black Marsh, Dalnoria had immediately suspected foul play. She was not surprised when, some centuries later, the historian-sage Montalius finally turned up some evidence that a disenfranchised branch of the Septim Dynasty was directly involved. It was an unfortunate indictment of both the nature of hereditary rule and the political scheming of the elder council, in the eyes of Dalnoria, that Katariah's son had none of her talent and presided over the decline of the Empire into sedition - and ultimately another war and succession crisis Throughout all these years, Dalnoria had delved into old ruins and even older libraries in the search for history and lore, giddy as a child at every find she made. As she travelled the land, she offered her services in spellcasting and alchemy to those she met along the way, both to get by in making gold and to force herself to interact with people and use her magical talents in the world at large - She had no desire to become as reclusive or detached as the House Telvanni. During the days of the Camoran Usurper, she was studying the Direnni in High Rock and when word reached her of the victory of Orthok over the Nightmare Host and of the link to the Camoran Usurper and his seemingly inexorable march north, Dalnoria realised that history was in the making and felt obligated not to repeat the mistakes of her Great House by sitting out a seminal event. Joining up with the coalition forces as a lowly battlemage and apothecary, she spent several long years at arms against the undead and the daedra. She watched as Baron Orthok's name became legend and his armies finally defeated the Camoran Usurper - a task which the Emperor Cephorus II had proven horribly inadequate at for nearly a decade. Though her name was in no books and her influence upon events was but a tiny fraction of the greater whole, as another nameless face in a sea of warriors, she took great pride in having done right by the world. From the end of the Camoran Usurper, Tamriel enjoyed well over one hundred years of relative peace and Dalnoria put them to good use refining her knowledge of lore and the arcane. There were threats and problems on the continent all the same, of course, and evil always lurked in the shadows waiting for its opportunity. Nonetheless, the longest period of relative peace in all her life time lulled her and seemingly the world into a false sense of security and she lost herself in her work - even the mismanagement and sparse wars during the Imperial Simulacrum did not shake her and it was only upon the deception being revealed that she finally turned her attention back towards news of politics. The 5th century of the 3rd era has made for grim reading all the way; The total disappearance of the Tribunal from the public eye, the blight and the discontent in the capital of the Imperial City. Not even the prophesised return of the Nerevarine eased Dalnoria's worry, for she began to have disturbing dreams, more akin to visions. In her dreams, she saw visions of a great Daedric horde within the waters of Oblivion, of death and destruction at the hands of mad mages, and of the bloody closing chapter of an era. Initially, she feared that these were the signs of some madness gripping her due to exposure to Oblivion, that they might even be signs of some form of possession. Yet none of her tests or experiments indicated such and it matched no descriptions she had heard before. It was with a heavy heart that instead she began to try and decipher these dreams, leaning into the arts of mysticism - of which she was only moderated acquainted - in the hopes of understanding what they meant. For many months the true meanings of these visions eluded her. Finally, frustrated and exhausted by her lack of progress, Dalnoria turned to Greef to ease her woes and frustration. Yet after falling into her bed in an inebriated stupor, she had the clearest vision yet; White Gold Tower and the Imperial City set ablaze against the horizons setting sun. Having the clearest yet geographical indicator of where it might lead her, Dalnoria felt compelled to travel to Cyrodiil in search of the meaning. Even now, she is not sure if there is a true meaning to them or if she is finally going mad. They would certainly say so back home in Morrowind; if you have disturbing dreams, people say you are crazy and want to lock you up. If you have disturbing dreams, and think they mean something, then they say you're a witch - and they want to lock you up. As such, she isn't exactly eager to share this information with anyone else until she has a better idea of what is going on... ____________________________________________________________________________ RELATIONSHIPS AND OPINIONS As the Daughter of Telvanni Master Wizards Galos Othril and Neveresa Sarys, Dalnoria has had an extremely strained relationship with both her family and the wider house Telvanni. In her youth, she lived through the chaos of the waning days of the interregnum, the invasion of Morrowind and the return of Dagoth Ur, as well as the many plagues and civil wars that characterised the mid 3rd era. Even as a child she couldn't understand her Houses refusal to get involved in either contemporary events or the events of the past. The raw power of the Telvanni could have tipped the scale of any of the many chaotic wars, from the Three Banner Wars and the Planemeld before her birth to the blatantly evil machinations of Potema to seize the throne of Tamriel - and yet they preferred to go on bickering in their little corner of Morrowind. Following her mother's death and her fathers descent into an ever more detached and depressed isolation, Dalnoria struggled for more than a century to keep him company and maintain some form of order on the estate. She grew to resent him, feeling snared and tied down by the eccentric fool. When she left to see the world for herself, he was left in total isolation - and as far as she is concerned, the world is better off for it. Blaming the ideology of House Telvanni for her mother's death and the turmoil of her family, Dalnoria travelled the lands of Morrowind, seeking her own purpose. She has forsaken her Great House and has little love for it or its ways. Even her homeland itself took a toll on her; The orthodox Temple, the xenophobic Ashlanders, the constant bickering between the houses all seemed to point to a deeply ill society to herself. Nonetheless, she still finds a certain comfort in food and drink that come from Morrowind, preferring a good portion of Scuttle and a good bottle of Greef or Vintage Comberry Brandy, a personnel favourite. ____________________________________________________________________________ MISC Noteworthy Weaknesses Physically Frail: Dalnoria has no notable physical aptitudes and has a sickly disposition; The magical and alchemical processes that were used to help bring her to term were truly impressive but were far from perfect; She is frail and does not perform well in physical trails of strength or endurance or when exposed to sickness. Her injuries heal slowly and it can sometimes take her weeks to fight off illnesses that others would recover from within the week. As such, she prefers to allow her summons to deal with any matter that relies on simple brute force, but there is only so much Stunted Magicka: Dalnoria does not regenerate magicka naturally. Ageing Mind: As the years of her life pile up one after another, surpassing the appropriate lifespan of a Dunmer, Dalnoria's mind continues to age regardless of the rate of ageing and maintenance of her physical body. As more and more memories cloud her limited mortal mind, her memory has become subject to a short of 'white noise'; In recalling details of events she has experienced or actions she has undertaken, she sometimes muddles them up with others that were similar, and sometimes she can take longer than she ought to to recall information. Usually, this is a manageable problem - but on occasion it has had catastrophic side effects, such as mistaking one potion for the other. She has learnt from experience to label every potion and poison she makes now and keeps a detailed notebook to refer to if she believes there is any possibility of confusion. Her perspective of the passage of time has grown warped as well; Time seems to flow faster for her now, hours passing in what feels like minutes. She has often attempted to brush these mental ailments off with light humour and jest - but in truth, she is terrified of the eventual implications... Stream of Consciousness: Despite her towering intellect, in discussions she has a terrible tendency to run off on multiple tangents before finally addressing the issue at hand, losing focus on what is important in a conversation and leaping between what happens to capture her interest at that moment. It is not uncommon for her to speak whatever is on her mind without thinking through the consequences and as such saying more than she ought or insulting others by mistake. Social settings and persuasion do not come easily to such a person and it would likely be unwise to let her conduct the diplomacy. Dalnoria is, unfortunately, utterly blind to this aspect of herself; She often holds total conviction that she can convince people around to her ideas through dialogue. Easily Distracted: Dalnoria has a tendency to become enamoured with interesting and intriguing objects around her, be they alchemical ingredients, relics of a lost civilisation or even unusual monsters. Unfortunately, it is all too common that she forgets mundane but still important tasks in favour of examining whatever it was that caught her attention. She will often need someone to focus her on the task at hand, lest she spend eight hours dissecting the unusually coloured bear rather than delivering the letter to the count.

Oblivion: Wrath of Akatosh

Alright, two more reviews here.

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Wow, what a richly detailed sheet, @darkwolf687!

Right of the bat, the attention to details in just the spells section is incredible. Of course, covering 556 years of life alone is a daunting task, yet you have accomplished that and told a superb story through your character's background. It is clear Dalnoria's personality is shaped through more than five centuries of personal growth, family affair and historical events. Despite having experienced so much already, she still has room to grow. Finally, her skills and flaws connect nicely with her background, and they are very much relevant to her deity.

Dalnoria is a well fleshed out character. She is approved, unless @POOHEAD189 says otherwise.

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@Gcold

I'm flattered, you are too kind :)

Oblivion: Wrath of Akatosh

After GCold review the last two CS's, I will post up the intro post (expect it within 36 hours)! And we also have one or two more people showing up as well :)

@POOHEAD189

I await review and the introduction eagerly

Talos Dunmer Rogue incoming.

@Kassarock

Talos champion being a Dunmer, imagine what Rolff Stone-Fist would say! I look forward to meeting your character :)

Oblivion: Wrath of Akatosh

On one hand, I'm tempted, not least because it's been a while since I've RP'ed.

On the other hand, I've only ever played Skyrim, but have never completed the game, and even my knowledge of that era is dubious at best.

On the third hand, you guys seem to be missing your 'rogue', as in, someone who is sneaky and stabby and may or may not be a thief, which is something I have been itching to play, lately.

On the fourth, I'm rusty, and I worry that I wouldn't be able to keep up, especially with IRL obligations and such, and I'm entirely unfamiliar with the Oblivion system, as it were.

Disturbing number of hands aside, I'm conflicted.

@CollectorOfMyst

The more the merrier I say, I know I'm hardly going to be a whirlwind of posting myself and we are indeed missing the roguish archetype.

In terms of dubious lore knowledge, I'm happy to (and I'm sure others would be) to give a basic overview of things if you need. The lore itself has a bit of a tendency to give conflicting accounts and muddy the water anyway so you can't quite be sure what's true anyway.

I can't imagine Oblivion mechanics will come up too much in rp tbh. The skill levels already don't really line up to how Oblivion skills work (Novice means below 25 of 100 so all skills are novice skills at minimum in Oblivion, clearly not so here given how we're asked to pick some.)

Oblivion: Wrath of Akatosh

@POOHEAD189

Hello, I updated my post on the second page with the finished version. I'd repost it for your convenience but unfortunately I'm on my phone right now and it refuses to copy/paste more than a few thousand characters :)