Thanks Phil, it was a good deal of fun to put together :) And! And I learned some lore. Then took some creative liberties with said lore, but not so much that I broke TES, so I think it worked out well.

Oh good! I'll keep that in mind for future builds then because the use of lore was really satisfying, I felt like it added substantial depth. 

Ah, that's a good question, one I should probably explain at least briefly somewhere near the top. I actually originally played this build as an Altmer as I do with almost every magic heavy build, just because that initial +50 Magicka is stupidly powerful.

As I got deeper into Sibella's character and started really giving her a personality, small details in-game started to line up really well with being a Dunmer. Things like using Dunmer followers, helping the folks in Solstheim, wearing Chitin armor, small things like that. The big selling point for Dunmer was the in-game rejection of Azura's championship which I thought was super interesting and really helped solidify in my mind the character I was going for. 

So Dunmer is the character I actually envisioned and wrote the story for while Altmer is a purely mechanical if the player wants to make life a little easier with the Magicka boost. 

Mhmm, it makes perfect sense. Like you said, playing a character that is a perfect representation of that race gives people a hook, something immediately familiar and easy to put into action. At worst, I feel like it's stereotypical and unimaginative (now I'm the condescending douche, so you can pass that torch on up), so I've gotten to the point where I will purposefully pick races that Skyrim would like to suggest are unsuitable for certain skills, for example choosing Bosmer for a two-handed barbarian. It's actually pretty funny because warhammers are almost as tall as they are. 

As far as lore goes, what I will say is that actively trying to break the race-molds is what led me to read the most lore. Trying to figure out what beliefs the majority of a race hold, trying to understand the relationships between gods, what would inspire someone to leave one faith for another, etc. Characters to me aren't just "skill bags", by which I mean, they're not just faceless sacks of flesh with numbers assigned to particular actions that make them better or worse at those actions. They're people with histories and personalities and fears and dreams! All of that is hard to convey in a build, though, so I do what I can. 

But I understand that gameplay is the most important thing to some people and I can't fault them for that, so I offered a practical option for race and likely will in the future as well. But I'm glad you approve of my use of a non-stadard race. It's a small detail, but an important one to me. 

Thanks, Noodles! It was a fun time. Tell ya what, that's a hell of a compliment. I have a ways to go before HoF though, because aren't HoF builds necessarily mythic or higher? Unless I forgot about a rule change. I can't find the thread anymore that discussed changes to the HoF but I know damn well it exists somewhere here! 

Ooohhh I have a year? Fair enough, appreciate the info and vote of confidence.