Akavir Ideas
Tsaesci are normally anthropomorphic snake-people, but because Akavir is in the next kalpa (where the standard is evidently that of beastfolk), when they tried to invade westward and entered the current kalpa (within which humanoids are the standard), they were forcibly “reformed” into a human shape - explaining why all the tsaesci seen in Tamriel are humans instead of snakes.
The pain of the transformation is why they never bothered to try another invasion.
The Kamal, on the other hand, are masochistic and figured second, third, fourth, etc. time’s the charm, but eventually found they could bypass the change by going through Atmora, which is currently “north” of the kalpic cycle (that is to say, it is one of the 11 worldskins before Yokuda, and is therefore a part of the wheel not “touching the ground”, unlike the Named 3 which are) altogether. It’s the difference between the Ice Tribes and our guy Karstaag.
Uriel V’s invasion fleet met the same change, but the history books won’t say jack or shit about it because none of the survivors wanted to admit they were forcibly assigned minotaur fursonas.
The lamia beastfolk are unrelated to the tsaesci despite appearances - sometimes nature just be like that.
The tsaesci have special warrior-guilds of dragon hunters led by a figuratively-leashed dovahkiin, who embark on missions into Ka Po’ Tun to slay any newly-ascended dragons, slaughter their families and temples, raze their hometowns, and consume their newly immortal souls.
The tigers’ obvious desire to prevent this leads to a tense cold-war of assassinations and plots where the tigers try to kill the dragonborns before they master their thu’um and the snakes try to keep them hidden as they are trained.
This kerfuffle includes elite dragon-hunter-hunters, (an) order(s) of cloaked “ninja” tigers who are sworn to protect all life but are also sworn to exempt by such kill/assassinate/hamper the tsaesci dragon-slayers and dragonborns and no other opponent - irrationally specialized in this task, they are mythologized as fighting death and “the Void”, in defence of life and immortality.
The Tang Mo are the largest and most wide-spread of the Akaviri civilizations, and consider the entirety of the continent of Akavir as the Thousand Monkey Isles, with the other nations living within their borders as funny little enclaves that sometimes throw violent tantrums. While the snakes and tigers and snow demons and their tributaries dispute this notion, none have been able to actually prove otherwise by gaining control over them.
Despite this, or perhaps it is because, the Tang Mo are carefree and nigh-utopian, enjoying the abundant fruits of their minimal labour while strengthening their community bonds and regional identities. In their leisure however, they neglect vigilance: their armies quickly disbanding out of disinterest as quickly as they are raised in response to threats - this serial unpreparedness serves to make their sudden resistances against their would-be-conquerors appear all the more heroic in their biased but extensive records. This annoys their more conventional neighbours.
The Ka Po’ Tun’s veneration of dragons is eerily similar to the relationship between the khajiit and dovah of Tamriel, but no one knows what its about. Nor are the ka po’ tun aware that there is another race of cat-people with their own dragons just over yonder.
The tigers ascend into dragons at an inconsistent rate despite the large numbers attempting it, generally between 3 and 6 ascendants in a 5 year span, which is hampered by tsaesci dragon-hunters who are quick to act on any rumours of ascendancy.
While the dragons of Tamriel typically present as masculine, the dragons of Akavir typically present as feminine. This includes their spiritual liege, ““king”” Tosh Raka, who is trans. Good for her!
The tigers have 13 styles of sacred martial arts, themed after 13 of their animal constellations (dragon, fox, hare, artei, durzog, rat, nix-bird, gull, stripedbear, dolfax, heron, huxhi, and wad’lin). Four of these styles are centred around casting spells which isn’t strictly martial, but is cool.
Ka po’ tun are immune to the effects of most poisons and toxins, but are lethally vulnerable to the simmering juices found within kagouti livers. This is information no one will ever likely learn, as kagouti are not indigenous to Akavir.
The Kamal are ice-freaks who like to invade and loot places that aren’t theirs, which has drawn not-inaccurate comparisons to the nords and atmoran colonizers.
The kamal, in searching for safer routes to pillage, colonized the now otherwise-uninhabitable Atmora and the Sea of Ghosts, and over the centuries the isolated oceanic populations evolved (or were perhaps being transformed) into the Sea Giants.
They hibernate in large chunks of ice as a shield against the even colder temperatures of impossible para-winters, and to release themselves with the coming of summer, they vibrate quickly and subtly to produce body heat to melt the ice around them, like bees killing a hornet.
Kamal have five eyes but traditionally keep the central eye covered so that it can “focus on seeing the future in which they win”.
They are big!
The rumoured dog-men and rat-men and akaviri humans do exist and are not extinct, but were culturally subsumed by the tsaesci and serve as second-class citizens, levies, labourers, and blood-banks for the snakes.
What remains of their original cultures can be found in songs with long-forgotten melodies, stories, and parables desperately inscribed on the walls of old temples and forgotten dungeons that they had fortified in their last days of resistance.
Their blood doesn’t even taste very good, but the tsaesci governments have really good propaganda about it being supernaturally healthy and spiritually-wholesome, like the USA and carrots.
Akavir itself is shaped kind of like a bowl, with a unnervingly below-sea-level interior. Pray that the Sea does not meet the Soil.
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16, 25 and 26 for Rod and Mort!
16. Does your oc take their time as they travel, or are they purposeful? How do they survive in the wilds, especially if they aren’t hunter-types? How dependent is your oc on civilized society?
now ROD, he grew up in colovia, in the sticks, he's a mountain man, he's content to spend hours trudging through a forest or climbing a hill and has an inherent appreciation for the natural world. if he's on the job he'll certainly march and stay focused, but if it's less urgent he'll be inclined to take his time. definitely knows how to hunt and would do pretty good living in the middle of nowhere, at least in a familiar environment (not a huge fan of morrowind for how different it is from his home biome but he's had to get used to it)
mortimer on the other hand is NOT formally trained in that sort of thing. he likes to think of himself as an adventurer but the only adventure he's been on is riding along with his dad's merchant ships. he prefers expediency in all things and ideally wherever he's going better have an inn with good food
25. If your oc is part of one of the more morally questionable or outright evil factions, how do they justify it to themselves? Do they still consider themselves as morally good? How well known is their affiliation to these groups? Do they have separate personas (e.g. Dragonborn to some people, Listener to others)? Do their family/friends know? If they have separate personas, how do they keep their less than righteous activities secret?
rod and mort are of course part of the most outright evil faction: the blades. for rodanus, he comes from a military family who had been a little bit burned by that recent simulacrum meaning they were aiding and abetting an impostor; rod wanted to join the emperor's honor guard, an exclusive chapter of the very best and brightest blades, but instead was shipped off to morrowind. he totally believes the empire is a force of good and sees absolutely nothing wrong with any of the orders he carries out. mortimer is a wannabe rogue who was disinherited from his father's business so becoming a blade is like, a way to occupy a higher sociopolitical standing and LARP as an important person. i douuuuubt that the families of blades know they're blades??? i cannot remember anything about this, but they have codenames, Bullhead and Quill respectively. mort basically never interacts with his family anymore (while leering enviously at his brother every so often) and as far as rod's family knows he IS serving the empire, but probably in a less noteworthy position. hell maybe they assume he got into the honor guard after all and he's just not allowed to tell them.
god okay and THEN they get drafted into ANOTHER morally questionable organization, the army of the tsaesci empire, which they justify to themselves with "well, it beats dying!" for how disturbingly similar they find this empire to be with the last one they worked for, there's no similar respect or dignity that comes with the job. they don't care to justify it beyond self preservation and their whole plan is to escape somehow eventually. and THEN there's the ka po tun empire which they reeeeeally hope are the "good guys" in this but are disappointed to see similar trends of apathy towards the fate of the common person and singleminded hunger for power present in this new line of work...
26.How helpful is your oc, and why? Are they helpful or kind even during difficult situations? Are they pragmatic, or do they have a hero syndrome?
in terms of being "kind" i think rodanus is the one with a moral compass (you know, as moral as it gets with bootlickers) he will stop to help someone in trouble on the road or pursue something if he thinks it's right. mortimer is more pragmatic and only plays that kind of game to win something in the end. in a situation like being stranded in akavir, despite everything, rodanus tries to cling to his principles while mortimer sees that as more of a burden in their current crisis.
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Tribe syllables
Here's my cheat sheet for naming characters, cities, landmarks, and so on. It includes the original syllables for each tribe, as well as the ones I've added based on the culture each tribe is inspired by, since I didn't have enough syllables to work with. The canon ones will be listed first, followed by a semicolon, and then the ones I've added. Do as you wish with them. Also, either a dash or an apostrophe will be added in the syllables list if I use them in names.
Xin-xi
bu, cha, li, po, sha, szu, xi, yo; wa, ra, ha, na, ya, ri, hi, mi, chi, ki, i, fu, tsu, yu, mu, re, he, be, se, ro, ho, so, no, to, -
Imperius
ca, do, ica, ip, lo, lus, ma, mus, nu, pi, re, res, ro, sum, te; mi, fa, so, la, ti, le, te, tos, io
Bardur
ark, bu, fla, gru, gu, lak, lin, ork, ro, tof, ur; au, urn, hr, hn, hv, bar, ar, ut, dur
Oumaji
ba, dor, gh, ha, ji, ke, la, lim, mu, on, si, ye; if, dal, kha, sin, ra, feh, ta, kaf, lam, sad, jaa, ou, be, oj
Kickoo
an, ko, li, lo, lu, ma, no, nu, oki, si, va; ka, na, ca, ki, na, ta, mo, ne, sa, la, am, to, '
Hoodrick
ber, don, go, ick, in, ley, lo, ol, ry, th, wa, we; eth, he, aw, am, nun, me, lar, la, ar, da
Luxidoor
au, em, exi, ga, iss, ki, ly, lo, ni, ou, po, uss, ux; su, am, as, la, ka, ra, ir, dim, ud, iti, ush, sun, '
Vengir
ar, bu, ck, cth, dis, gor, he, im, na, nt, pe, rot, rz, st, the, tu, xas; tl, ex, ng, ro, sl
Zebasi
bo, co, la, mo, wa, ya, za, zan, zim, zu; on, gii, kz, ki, ko, vai, lo, ma, kp, pel, bas, sa, eri, be, dj, uk, wo, be, te
Ai-Mo
dee, fi, ki, lee, li, ni, po, pi, so, si, to, ti; ki, ke, ko, se, mi, me, hee, le, no, sa, see, ji, chi, po, '
Quetzali
el, ca, cho, chu, ex, ill, ix, ja, qu, tal, tek, tz, was, wop, ya; woc, wal, que, sol, tl, az, tu, che, '
Yadakk
ar, ark, az, ber, ez, ge, gy, kh, ki, kol, ka, mer, ol, sam, sh, st, tja, tsa, ug, urk, ul, um, an; be, ec, kir, bak, tre, pla
Aquarion
aq, at, do, eid, fic, ico, in, lan, nau, nep, po, pol, quo, sei, tic, tis, tun; tin, to, if, tan, iq, sic
Elyrion
(This one's a bit weird. I either follow the shapes of the syllables to make names, or I made up syllables depending on what the symbol is called irl)
til, da, i'i, th, ts, t'h, f'h, r'h, yph, eng, et, del, ta, pi, ob, el, isk, li, ra, eu, ro, an, at, es, si, ma, mi
Polaris
aa, an, do, il, iq, nuu, pi, pol, ta, to; am, ar, uq, aq, oq, qu, ir, roo, ri, naa, ni, swi, thoo, ye, yaa, yi, ai, ris, ar, '
Cymanti
aph, bio, bo, ca, ce, chy, ci, co, cy, di, dio, ea, exo, hex, ho, ia, ich, li, lo, ly, my, neo, ner, phy, pod, rhi, seg, sis, sy, ta, the, tic, um, zi, zo
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