WIP Wednesday Saturday: A Narrow Escape

Tagged by @dalishthunder ! Sorry I been dead lately, been sucked back into SWTOR. Basically this fic is told from the perspective of a couple of bandits who narrowly escape being eaten by Tamar one dark and stormy night

~~~

It was raining again.

Ma'varr had smelled the coming storm a day prior, and warned Kemmel and the others of it. After a few years of running together, they knew better than to doubt the Khajiit's sharp senses. And so they raised their tents, oiled their armour, and donned their cloaks in preparation.

Sure enough, some ten hours later, the rain arrived just as he'd predicted. Everyone sat hunched in their tents, hoods raised against the storm; some grumbled about the autumn weather, others sleeping the hours away. Ma'varr alone faced the storm, stationed on watch.

The roads were often slim pickings during storms. slim was better than none, as Kemmel often said. He'd appointed Ma'varr to the early watch, the dark hours before dawn when all the smart, decent people of the world were asleep.

Some lovelies!! Thank u all for the Skyrim screenshots, it has helped me greatly<33

Characters and their owners, from left to right:

Antony, who belongs to @old-skulls

Imedril, owned by @lilythekhajiit

Caedmon, for @connorcounterspell

Gaelora, owned by @dramaticpandabear

Tamar, owned by @wanders-in-stars

Tilavyne, owned by @tiredela

WE GOT TAMAR ART FOLKS, LESSGOOOOO

HUGE thank you to the lovely @ralofofriverwoods for this, pls do go and check em out their style is AMAZING and they captured Tamar PERFECTLY, she looks so feral, I'm in tears I love it sm 🥺❤️

Okay hear me out. What if the Falmer were culturally far more similar to the modern day nords rather than the altmer or the ayleids?

Like if the Falmer's culture was a more intense version of what we see of the ancient nords in Skyrim. Because the nords kind of just integrated their own culture into the falmers. Maybe the Falmer were originally far more similar to the vikings and other ancient Scandinavian cultures rather than just being the altmer but pale.

Or maybe even towards the end of their reign they started to shift cultures to a more altmer influenced lifestyle and religion making Auri-el a more prominent God figure in their pantheon. Sort of similar to how Scandinavia got christianised.

It would explain why tensions between the Atmorans and the Falmer suddenly became so high when they were previously living peacefully together.

It would also be fascinating to consider the fact the nords could actually be descendants of both the atmorans and the Falmer. Sort of like the bretons. It's very difficult to completely wipe out an entire country worth of people. And not every Falmer wanted to go underground with most being opposed to the idea. So it would make more sense for those who didn't join the Dwemer for protection to be slowly "integrated" with the atmorans which would explain the entire disappearance of the rest of the Falmer. It also gives the modern day Nords a new context which I really like because its sort of poetic irony the nords themselves would be another small part of what was left of the ancient falmer.

Also there's no way a bunch of people living in freezing cold temperatures aren't going to have beards. Bethesda is lying to me.

Anyways it might not line up with canon but it's an interesting thought. Also brings some funny scenarios to mind.

For more details go here

actually i love colour

Snow Elf culture?

*pulls up a chair*

Perhaps...

A wee disclaimer that I'm not particularly good or creative with developing cultures or societies, but my brain has just latched on to the snow elves in a way where I can't stop myself. But anyway

I developed a lot of this because of a big ass draft for a fic I've been writing on and off about Gelebor and Vyrthur, so a lot of my headcanons are religion heavy. I'll start there:

Gelebor seems to place Auri-El and the Chantry of Auri-El as having significant importance to the Snow Elves over the other gods/temples. He's probably got a bit of bias in that regard since he's devoted his life to Auri-El, but in order to differentiate their religion from the other elven ones I like to think that their religion in general worshipped Auri-El as not even just as the figure head of their pantheon, but almost monotheistical, while the other gods (Trinimac, Syrabane, Jephre and Phynaster according to Gelebor) were like minor divine figures or just legendary heroes even more than in Altmer myth, depending on the interpretation. My idea is that if their culture had been allowed to continue on, it would've eventually become monotheistic, but by the arrival of the Nords they were in a bit of an awkward transition period with it.

I also like to lean into the sun motif with Auri-El that they established in Dawnguard and with Auriel's Bow, partially because it's another thing to make their depiction of him more unique, and in part because it makes some very juicy irony for Vyrthur. Some ideas include:

- The more religious folk tend to pray at noon when the sun is at it's highest. - The two biggest snow elf festivals happen on the summer and winter solstices. As far north as they are, the summer solstice is during a time of year where the sun barely sets and the winter one is during a time of year where it barely rises. The summer one is more jovial and celebratory, with a grand feast. With almost 24 hours of daylight, the festivities last up to three days straight, with folks commonly staying awake for over 24 hours. Most of it is spent outside, with the celebration being focused on making the most of the weather and daylight hours to spend as much time in the sun and the light of Auri-El as possible. The winter festival is as large scale but lasts longer and is lower-key. It also involves a feast but features more winter foods and meat and alcohol. It is more pensive. At this point in the year, there is no full daylight, and so this season is seen as a test of one’s faith and mental fortitude. This festival acts as a break from this trying time, taking time to relax, build community (a strong community will allow them to make it through the winter and strengthen their minds), and bond with family and friends. It is about a weeklong break, where leading up to the festival everyone works harder to prepare for it and allow themselves to have the break. There are activities and festivities, but they remain indoors for the most part and are smaller. - I've referenced this before, but with long winters with little sunlight (due to harsh weather and short days), they see that time of year as a reflective test of will and faith.

Due to their proximity to dragons, it was hard to miss the connection between Auri-El (/Akatosh) and dragons, and so their depiction of Auri-El is either much more influenced by the iconography of dragons, or is a dragon (although their depiction of dragon Auri-El is much more benevolent than the Nord/Atmoran one). I got the idea for this one from this Reddit post (i know I dog on Reddit a lot but this one has got some fun stuff in it, even if it's a bit out there)

^On that note, later in the timeline (post Dragon War (the timeline is very fuzzy on when this and the Night of Tear happens. They are both sometime vaguely in the late Merethic Era I believe, but it's unclear which happens first or how long each conflict is)) some Snow Elves see a sort of unreturned, unofficial comradery with dragons, seeing themselves as both on the receiving end of the Nord's/Atmoran's brutality (disregarding whether it was warranted or not in the context of the Dragon War).

Ok here's some more general cultural ones:

I mentioned my reasoning for this in this post, but I like to think their general settlements were not as permanent, with a larger focus on wood and building into the sides of hills (good for warmth), while their temples tended to be made of stone and much more permanent. This is why there are so few identifiable Snow Elf ruins across Skyrim. Their cities and towns were easy to wipe out, scavenged for resources, or were in good places for Nordic cities (perhaps Bromjunaar was originally the site of a Snow Elf city?), and their temples were either very hidden (e.g. the Chantry of Auri-El) or eventually converted to Nordic temples.

I love this journal in general for gleaning ideas for Snow Elf headcanons for, but one interesting this is the use of "Old Ones" and "Young One". They're treated like established titles. From that I like to think they place a lot of emphasis on the respect of those older than you. The social hierarchy and whose opinions are most valued is heavily influenced by age. Folks call anyone older or more revered “Old Ones” as a term of respect, and anyone younger than them “Young Ones”. Old One is almost never used in a demeaning way, but Young One can be (not always). Typically, “Old Ones” is used in the third person (e.g. you wouldn’t refer to someone directly as “old one”) whole “Young One(s)” can be used as an epithet for someone directly or in third person.

When thinking about death/"burial" customs (needed for some scenes in the fic I'm planning), you have to consider that there probably wasn't a lot of land in a place like Skyrim where someone can be buried. Nords intern their dead in crypts or burn them to get around this, and I like to think Snow Elves participated in something akin to sky burials (at least sometimes). After preparation, the departed's body is left outside on a ledge, cliff, or the temple balcony to be scavenged by birds. This is seen as a metaphorical return to Aetherius, while their soul literally returns to it. They do this even in poor weather or deep winter. If it doesn’t thaw and rot/be scavenged until months later, so be it. The length it takes to rot is considered indicative of how long it takes for the spirit to let go and move on (not in a bad way though. It’s interpreted more in the way of the soul or body grieving). It's seen as if they may wish to wait until spring to finally rot if they want to experience one more warm, sunny day.

Food (I mostly wrote this in my notes in the context of the Forgotten Vale and Chantry of Auri-El, but I think it could work elsewhere as well to an extent): Plant-based food is grown in gardens in the spring and summer, and that that is able to be stored is carefully preserved through the fall and winter. Winter foods include some nuts, dried vegetables, and dried and preserved/fermented grains (like wheat, barely). These foods must be eaten slowly throughout the winter to last, and winter diets are more meat based. Summer foods include apples, cabbage/lettuce, leeks, tomatoes etc. Snowberries can be found in the wild out of season of most other fruits, and provide fruit in very early spring. Occasionally, fungus from caves is harvested, but this is seen as a delicacy (foreshadowing).

Ok, that's it for now. I gotta go to bed. Thanks for the ask!!!! :D

Ko’tali

A former Khajiit spy who decided to stay in Skyrim after her latest mark was killed. 

Who is Ko’tali?

Ko’tali is an essential Alfiq follower for Skyrim that currently does not exist. I plan to write a script, quests, and do voice acting for her, but I would have to partner with/hire a programmer in order to make her a reality. 

So what’s the point of this blog?

I plan to post her dialogue and story here! I’d love to attract the attention of a programmer this way, but I’m mostly doing this for fun and to participate in tumblr’s custom follower community.

Would Ko’tali be different than a normal follower?

I don’t know much about modding, but ideally she would function differently than most followers:

She rides on the player’s head and shoulders rather than following behind them.

She is a mage who can be asked to swap between “attack” and “defense” modes. “Attack” is self explanatory, but in “defense” mode, she would work to protect and support the player via wards and healing spells. 

Out of combat, she can also be asked to cast Muffle, Candlelight, Telekinesis, and possibly other spells.

She has no inventory and cannot be asked to carry anything.

Who are you?

I’m a hobbyist writer and amateur voice actress who has an unhealthy obsession with Skyrim lol

The toxic urge to download a bunch of overhaul mods and start a clean save is back

something they don’t tell you about being autistic is that every character you write WILL end up autistic/autistic-coded whether you like it or not

How many languages does your OC speak?

Found a mod that adds animated ships to Skyrim, and was so pleased to see this dog got to ride one too. 😭

we had a rough start but I'm really pleased with the way this new LO is coming together

Both of these are still wips, but im too excited about the progress not to share!

Lilywen is my Snow Elf mage who has congenital blindess and an intense hatred for Nords. She uses a magic aura and the Find Familiar spell to help her navigate the harsh landscape. She travels with Taliesin and eventually becomes the Arch-mage of the College of Winterhold. Her main skills are destruction and illusion.

Aine is my Breton vampire thief who suffers from self-loathing and just wants to be happy. She only drinks the blood of people who would harm her first (of which there are many in Skyrim). She travels with Arissa and Auri and eventually restores the Thieves Guild. Her main skills are Sneak, Archery, and Conjuration. Her main weapon is the Bound Bow.

i still can't figure out whether i find drawing plants relaxing or exhausting...maybe a bit of both