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Character Build: Dueling Souls

Tags: #Character Build Blacksmith  #Race:Argonian  #Rank:Bloodworks  #Character Build: Archer  #roleplay  #Character Build: Crusader  #Character Build: Brute  #Hasir 
  • Member
    May 4, 2018

    I have always been fascinated with the idea of the Yin-Yang and the constant battle of light and dark forces in man and in nature. My belief is that this battle between good and evil intrinsic forces continues on even after our bodies die. Yin refers to the southern side of the mountain and the darkness. Yang refers to the north side of the mountain and the light. In Chinese lore, The universe consists of two differing forces. These two forces are necessary to create wholeness and balance in the world.  This in an intriguing concept as I too believe that you cannot have one force without a more negative force or energy acting upon it. One cannot exist without the other.

    I thought this concept would be a unique build concept. Since Akavir is very similar to ancient China, or at least that is how I look at it. My character Quinchal is also governed by this concept, known here as the tiger and the dragon. He cannot stray too far from the teachings of the tiger without being swallowed by the darkness that is eagerly awaiting him should he fail in his duties. My character also believes in the afterlife and the coming of his Akaviri ancestors. 

    The Tiger is said to be one of the finest warriors in all of Akavir. These creatures fight with honor and once they defeat their foe, they let out a mighty roar that shakes the Earth. The closest thing to a tiger in Skyrim is a Sabretooth tiger. If Quinchal chooses this path, he is given lightning fast speed and divine power to embue his weapons with lightniing fast strikes. He must not harm a sabretooth unless he is the one who is attacked first.

    Image result for chinese tiger

    Race: Argonian

    Standing Stone: The Lord

    Stats: 2:4:3

    Weapons: Hunting Bow (Gong), Seeker Changdao

    Armor: Imperial Scale Armor

    Shouts: Become Ethereal, Call of Valor, Clear Skies, Unrelenting Force, Soul Tear, Whirlwind Sprint

    Spells: Healing, Clairvoyance, Detect Life, Summon Inigo, Summon Hashire

    Major Skills: Two Handed, Smithing

    Minor Skills: Archery

    The Form of the Weretiger: Beast Form

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    The celestial beings known as tiger mother and dragon father left behind a symbol to help balance the energy of the heavens. Half light, half dark, the symbol is now known as the Yin-Yang. The sacred circle represents the constant battle between light and dark sides of humanity. The heavens chose me as their guardian. I alone can choose which force to call upon and when. My masters are the graceful tiger mother and fiery father dragon. They try to influence my soul in diffenert ways. but only I control my fate. My very existence lies in the balance of two differing energies, I must balance them if I am to earn the honor of Akavir and her people.

    He must seek out elders who can help him balance his soul so neither the tiger or the dragon can take sole ownership. Through this lost Akaviri art, I learn to discipline his voice as well as control his emotions. The other component to this training includes how to use spell and sword effectively. The training is long and most of the time perilous. The training requires the spirit to be resilient and steadfast as the stages of training are arduous and unforgiving. It involves pushing the warrior to his breaking point he must go through several trials meant to try to break their spirit. Only one warrior has passed all trials with their spirit intact.   

     After the warrior's training is complete. The warrior then goes into further training to master the martial arts. The samurai fights with honor and when the battle is won, he returns home with knowledge of his defeated enemy. The spirit became weary after battle one day and decided to rest against a nearby sakura tree. In his dream, his ancestors spoke words of great terror. "My son, there was a great Tsaesci sorcerer who could trap souls in dragons and other creatures known as Tsun Kai. We trapped his spirit in the celestial plain after he was slain. Alas, his soul has escaped and we cannot pass judgement on him for his crimes. 

    "Tiger mother, Tsun did nothing wrong. He does not deserve to be punished so.” Quinchal thought.

    "Ah, but you are wrong, my son,” Tiger mother went on "Tsun trapped mine, your father's and all of your ancestor's souls inside great winged beasts for our defiance. As lizard people, your father and I were foolish enough to deny him soldiers. He then infected me and dragon father with a deadly plague. I was well enough to entrust you to a guard to become an Akaviri. You father was not so lucky, he died within the orange lights that ate our village."

    Quinchal woke with a frightened expression on his face. He knew now what he had to do. The three parts of Tsun's soul could be found on Skyrim and the isle nearby One part resides inside the dragon with wings like a hurricane, one inside a dragonpriest on the snowy isle of solstheim, one in the mighty vampire lord in the castle on an island where the dead roam. The last and most powerful part of his soul resides in the ultimate enemy, an empty set of ebony armor held together using forbidden magic.

    Quinchal must choose his path and pursue the remnants of the sorcerer and put an end to his tyranny so that his ancestors' souls can be free to enter Mount Meru, the akaviri version of heaven. The ancestors bestowed upon the argonian the ability to take the shape of mythical beings. 

    Quinchal had the abilty to morph into a towering celestial being that could fell his foe with a swipe of his claw or make enemy samurai flee with a mighty roar if he sided with the tiger. If Quinchal chose the path of the dragon, he would have the ability to take the form of tangible fire. This form would allow him to either fight with claw or spell to overwhelm or confuse his enemy. 

     

    Lupine: werewolf perks expanded - Tiger mother has granted the jianshi with the ability to tap into the spirit world, a feat that the werewolves of the mortal world can never achieve. 

    Byzantine - Imperial Chainmail and Scale Armors - the Jianshi must look his best while he brings honor to his family name

    Conqueror's Honor - this house is as Akaviri as it gets on Skyrim Special Edition. This house mod has everything an akaviri warrior or even an akaviri underling could need

    Immersive Weapons - there are lots of akaviri inspired weapons in this mod

    Ordinator - Completely optional mod, only if the user wants it as it reworks the perk tree and makes playing as a jianshi, a chinese warrior, more viable than the vanilla perk system


    Heavy Armor The ancestors taught Quinchal how to become impenetrable, like a wall of stone

    Two Handed Quinchal can wield mighty katanas that can cut though armor with ease. With the champion's stance perk, the samurai can perform power attacks without losing that much stamina.

    Smithing the akaviri are skilled in forging weapons and armor that the akaviri would be proud of. The weapons and armor are cut from a rare material found only on Akavir that makes the weapons and armor he smiths to be near impenetrable.

    Archery The bow of the Jianshi is made from bamboo, which can be found in many akaviri forests surrounding akaviri temples. While the skill tree's only invested perk in overdrawn, the bow can still do a considerable amount of damage to the armor 

    Image result for akaviri temple

     

    Aspect of Sorrow - the tiger mother's spiritual presence is felt in the jianshi as well, giving him increased magicka absorbtion and reflection

    Howl of the Tempest - the divine mother lends Quinchal the power to add shock based magics to his howls with a slight chance of also paralyzing his enemies.

    Silent as the Night .- the divine mother pours her spirit into the jianshi, enabling him to move silently in both his reptilian and tiger forms

    Blood of Nirn - the jianshi can gain increased health regeneration as a reward for following the path of the tiger

    Echo of the Howl - tiger mother grants the jianshi increased shout and howl cooldown as well as decreases in magicka costs in reptilian form

    Purifying Blood - tiger mother shares her insight of how she became resistant to poison. This insight gave him a total resistance to poison in his tiger and reptilian form.

     The Samurai never engages in combat that is without honor. With weak enemies like bandits and common thugs use your yumi to show them that life without honor is a life not lived. He partakes in quests that will either bring himself honor or quests that affect his soul in either in a positive or negative way. The enemies he views as honorable in combat are his ancestors, trapped in the bodies of dragons by tiber septim. The samurai blocks their elemental breath attacks with spellbreaker. He then proceeds to rip apart the dragons' flesh with one swipe of the orcish greatword so that he can guide the spirits of his ancestors to the afterlife. When he lets his emotions cloud his judgement that is when the soul of the dragon shows itself and the samurai becomes wild and untamed.

    Image result for akaviri architecture

    If you choose the path of the righteous, go to the embershard mine and pick up an iron warhammer. Exit the mine, go to riverwood and speak to Alvor and head to whiterun and join the companions to obtain the form of the weretiger.  After the main quest, the tiger destroys Paarthurnax and frees his grandfather's soul and he gets inducted into the sacred order of the blades. Complete any quests that derive honor. Partake in quests of the nine divines. 

    1. Image result for chinese tiger

           

     Swiftness of the Tiger The yin take over and enable the samurai to dash and swing his sword at amazing speed Whirlwind Sprint + Orcish greatsword + Sweep

     The Duality of Man The two halves must cooperate to pull off the ultimate maneuver using all the samurai has learned Call of Valor + Flesh spell + Summon Assassin + Ebony Blade

    Main Quest The jianshi undertakes this great quest to set Tsung K'iang Tso's soul free from the dragon it currently inhabits.

    The Companions The jianshi undertakes this trial to see of he is worthy of uniting his spirit permanently with the tiger's.

    Imperial Legion The tiger joins his fellow jianshi to purge the dragon's presence from the land. 

    The Whispering Door the samurai must prove he is worthy to wield the nodachi of eternal darkness to smite those he deems unworthy in combat.

    Blades The Jianshi joins the Akaviri dragonslayers in the hopes that his ancestors will embrace the light and forsake the dark path forced upon them by Tsun Kai.

    Companion: Vilkas or Inigo

    The Dragon is a creature that the Akaviri revere about all others. They see them as sacred and do not engage them unless there is no visible alternative. They feel that in slaying one of the mighty and holy creatures that the souls of their ancestor will be set free. If Quinchal chooses this path, he is given a voice like that of his ancestors. He is also given armor as hard as dragonbones by his ancestors.

    Image result for chinese dragon

     

    Stats: 3:4:2

    Standing Stone: The Serpent

    Armor: Dragonscale Armor

    Weapons: Ebony Blade (miaodao), Dragonbone Bow (gong)

    Spells: Incinerate, Fireball, Flames, Firebolt, Summon Durnehviir

    Shouts: Fire Breath, Bend Will, Dragonrend, Dragon Aspect, Soul Tear, Call Dragon

    Major Skills: Heavy Armor, Two Handed

    Minor Skills: Destruction

    Related image

     

    Heavy Armor the dragon scales are impossible for enemy weapons to break through

    Destruction The yang specializes in burning everything is his way

    Two Handed The dragon can wield his Dragonbone greatsword with deadly force and strike fast like a viper

    Image result for akaviri dragon

     



    The dragon could care less whom he hurts. He does not have the morality level of the tiger, in fact, he has no morality. Once the soul is tainted, there is no hope of repairing it. With a soul as black as night, the argonian, engulfed by the evilness of the dragon can no longer abide by the laws of civilized society. The dragon makes his own way through society even if that means killing innocents.

    If you choose the way of the dragon, do quests that favor the darker side of dishonor like the thieves guild or the dark brotherhood guild. Venture to castle Volkihar to obtain the form of the mighty dragon in order to destroy anyone who standing in your way. Take on side quests that have a dark side to them. Do all of the daedric quests except Meridia's Beacon, Hircine's quest and Peryite's quest. 

    Image result for chinese dragon wallpaper

    Fury of the Dragon Thw yang enables the jianshi to annihilate his opponents Fire breath + Augmented Flames + Wall of Flame

     Unforeseen Circumstances the soul, once absorbed by the dragon, is wild and untamed Vampire Lord + Ring of the Beast + Supernatural Reflexes

    Dawnguard (Vampire Questline) the dragon makes his nest in the only home that will accept his wrongful ways

    The Black Star the yang has no need for animal souls, what he needs is souls of human for his various misdeeds

    House of Horrors the yang appreciates when a sacrifice is required to please a daedric lord

    Boethiah's Calling the dragon is most pleased when a quest involves treachery of blood

    Companions: Durnehviir, Odahving or any dragons you ride using the bend will shout

    Constructive Criticism is Appreciated

  • May 7, 2018

    Ok, so I wasn't expecting to write as much as I did so I want to start off by saying that, if I have a lot of criticism, it's because I'm so fascinated by the core concept of this build and want to see more of its potential come through. I really get a strong feeling that there's a lot more to this build still up in your head than has been written down here. I even googled things that, while confusing without context, were downright awesome once I had educated myself. So with that in mind...

     

    I always love the duality builds since I enjoy seeing how they're implemented. This one in particular has some great concepts floating around, albeit maybe too freely. Lol. At first I was confused because The Build section mentions a legendary samurai that could harness the power of both the Tiger and the Dragon, so I assumed there would be some back and forth between the playstyles. It wasn't until the perkspreads that I realized you'd be making a permanent choice of masters and not learning both like Tsun K'iang Tso.

    Considering the skills for the dragon and tiger are very similar aside from the key element of having to choose between the order and structure of Alteration and the chaos of Destruction, I think this is the more interesting way to go with it. Let the player make that hard choice and experience the arguably minor, but lasting gameplay and roleplay affects of their decision.

    That being said, I think that makes mentioning Tsun K'iang Tso unnecissary and a little confusing. I'd either take the reference out or clarify in the intro that, unlike him, this build will be making a permanent choice between tiger and dragon. Maybe both.

    I also love the RP of a samurai that only confronts worthy foes in open combat, though I had to google yumi and nodachi to find out what they are, so maybe that should be noted in the weapons section earlier in the build if you're going to be referencing it later. Plus, using the nodachi (ebony blade?) seems like engaging in combat, which conflicts with your RP. Maybe you should dispatch weak/unworthy opponents from a distance with either yumi (bow?) as a follower of The Tiger and Destruction magic as a follower of the dragon.

    Other than that, my only real criticism is that it's such a great concept and an interesting build that I want to read more. The abilities could be expanded on, if not with a gameplay explanation then you can have a colorful little paragraph that tires them into the narrative. I think the gameplay section should be divided into The Tiger and The Dragon so you can showcase the differences in the way each would approach combat.

    Finally, I might have a section where you give a little more info on some things that were never really explained like the weretiger. What it is exactly? How did it happen? How do you RP an honorable samurai with a beast form? Does only the Tiger have it? If so, why? And why isn't vampire lord used as a draconic form for The Dragon? He does use destruction after all!

  • Member
    May 7, 2018

    I fixed up my builld a little, adding in the dragon's gameplay section and adding reason for why the weretiger was there. I also added in a backstory for the dragon's special ability.

  • May 7, 2018

    William said:

    I fixed up my builld a little, adding in the dragon's gameplay section and adding reason for why the weretiger was there. I also added in a backstory for the dragon's special ability.

     

    Oh man, it looks really good now. Your formatting was always damn good on mobile so now that the ideas flow a little better it's a great read that even fools like me who don't know what yumis are can keep up with. Lol.

     

    Btw, I understand the struggle between over explaining that bores or feels patronizing to the experts and not explaining enough to where you alienate the newbies. So far the best advice I got was when DB told me to use links. So like, if you don't want to spoon feed us what yumi and nodachi are, you can always just make it to where clicking on the words takes you to the Wikipedia page about them. That way, the uninitiated aren't confused, but you aren't wasting the time of the people that already know.

  • Member
    May 7, 2018
    Thanks, I added links about he the nodachi and the history of Kyudo, which is japanese archery.. I studied other builds, mainly the builds from the tamriel character building hall of fame, to make my presentation stand out from my other builds.
  • Member
    May 8, 2018

    I can see a steady improvement in your builds Will, keep at it man, this was an interesting read :). Could you add a little more into why we do the quest's that you've outlined, I get that they are good vs evil. But as far as character development goes is there certain ones you'd do before others? How does the character think of interact with deadric princes if they do those quest's?

  • Member
    May 8, 2018
    Ok
  • Member
    May 8, 2018

    Thanks Will, I'll check back tomorrow.

    Great use of pictures by the way, really hammers home the akaviri theme of the build.

  • Member
    May 8, 2018
    Thanks Furrion 17
  • May 11, 2018

    You know, I'm sort of wondering if this would've worked better as two or maybe even three discussions. Imagine, posting the first part (let's call it...The Disciple for a fairly generic name that would fit). The Disicple has the backstory and a lot of content about how you fight before deciding on either The Tiger or Dragon and generally focuses on a period where the character is still unsure about what path he wants to follow. Then you'd have following discussions that focus on the latter parts of the build, with The Tiger as one discussion and The Dragon (or Path of the Dragon/Tiger maybe) as another.

    I don't know, I do like this, it's not bad I'm just wondering if there might be a better way to approach the idea.