Hey, Monica, good to see you back!

Before I jump in the discussion, imma put on my host hat. Could you please name this post 'Discussion: The Viability of a Thalmor Dragonborn' pretty please? It's just that all discussions in this group are labelled this way. Plus, you can add tage if you want. Stuff like this can be found here. Thanks!

Well, I said I'd jump into the discussion, but it's got very lore-y very quickly up in here, and that's not my strong suit. Can you tell me a bit more about your character's personal views on the grand scheme of things? Are they invested in destroying the towers? Or are they an ends justify the means typa guy/gal? If they're more of the following orders sort, what does their backstory indicate about previous missions and higher-ups interaction (ie officers)? are they gonna betray a direct order to get to the goal quicker (ie let Alduin do his thang) or do they follow stuff to the letter?

[blockquote][b][url=/profile/Tysoyaha]Tysoyaha[/url] said:[/b]

[blockquote][b][url=/profile/Teineeva]Teineeva[/url] said:[/b]

 Thatwould be Michael Kirkbride, he's one of the people who originally wrote for the TES series and even after leaving this position has often been seen as instrumental for the lore of the series.  I like some of his stuff but am still extremely conflicted as to what we ought to take as true or false. After all, at this point anything MK says or writes is nothing more than pure fanfiction (I believe he left before Bethesda published Oblivion).

He's "given" a lot of "info" on the possible ruminations of the Aldmeri Dominion. Something about the elves wanting to get rid of men because this would allow them to reclaim their divine nature... It's some of the parts I care less about but it can be interesting nonetheless.

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Ah, the guy who "confirmed" that Pelinal Whitestrake is a cyborg from the future. That's what I thought, but I couldn't remember his name. Thanks.

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You see why I'm always very hesitant when it comes to his stuff? Some of it works or makes some degree of sense metaphysically and then there's that... That said, I still love how Karver (aka The Lorc of Flowers) presented Kirkbride's idea of the Eye of Magnus being a supercomputer from the ninth era in his "Practice of magic" story. Even if that one sounds just as ridiculous.

EDIT: BTW I'm sorry I haven't participated in the actual discussion yet, I'll rectify that as soon as I'm done with work for today.

I remember seeing an old build by Mason (one of, if not the, best builders around before the site moved over from Ning) called the Nemesis. It's a Thalmor who was discovered to be Dragonborn by his superiors. Fearing a conflict of interests, the Thalmor sent him out to Darkwater Crossing just as Ulfric was being lured into a trap, and the Nemesis was captured by the Imperials and sentenced to execution. The Nemesis's main goal is to destroy those who betrayed him and being Dragonborn gives him an extra tool to help in his quest for vengeance.

Here's the build if you're interested. One of my most fun playthroughs alongside the Obsidian Sentinel that's also by Mason. https://www.tamrielvault.com/groups/topic/view/group_id/3/topic_id/1417

[blockquote][b][url=/profile/Zonnonn]Zonnonn[/url] said:[/b]

Hey, Monica, good to see you back!

Before I jump in the discussion, imma put on my host hat. Could you please name this post 'Discussion: The Viability of a Thalmor Dragonborn' pretty please? It's just that all discussions in this group are labelled this way. Plus, you can add tage if you want. Stuff like this can be found here. Thanks!

Well, I said I'd jump into the discussion, but it's got very lore-y very quickly up in here, and that's not my strong suit. Can you tell me a bit more about your character's personal views on the grand scheme of things? Are they invested in destroying the towers? Or are they an ends justify the means typa guy/gal? If they're more of the following orders sort, what does their backstory indicate about previous missions and higher-ups interaction (ie officers)? are they gonna betray a direct order to get to the goal quicker (ie let Alduin do his thang) or do they follow stuff to the letter?

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Title edited, and thank you for pointing me to that! Apologies for not noticing it sooner. 

Regarding my character, I don't actually know if she knows about the towers. She's very much a true believer in that she does believe in the superiority of the Mer and she does not believe Talos should be worshipped. Her goal is more in the black ops realm in that she is in Skyrim to undermine the Empire, and she'll do that by siding with the Stormcloaks. She's essentially a ghost, trained by the Thalmor to be an agent for the Empire's destruction. Her orders don't really exist as such. It's the faith that the Thalmor have place in her, and knowing that the Emperor is killed by an Altmer will be proof that she is doing her job. And all that said, I think if she did know about the towers, she would throw herself into seeing them fall.

And just for kicks, I checked out Ondolemar's dialogue to see what a Thalmor leader might be willing to say (well, a leader in Markarth). His dialogue is mostly about religion and Elven superiority:

"We intend to prove the superiority of Mer over Man, one century as a time."

"It's my mission to root out all Talos worship in this city."

"There is peace now, and that peace will continue for as long as it suits our needs. But make no mistake, this is not a peace forged out of necessity between rival nations of equal strength. It is more like the calm between storms, and the next storm I think, will be far deadlier than the last."

But then there's this bit which leads me to believe he does know more. It seems to point less towards destruction and more toward the Elves conquering Tamriel: 

"Enjoy this while you can. Soon, you will all be slaves."

[blockquote][b][url=/profile/Ebonslayer]Ebonslayer[/url] said:[/b]

I remember seeing an old build by Mason (one of, if not the, best builders around before the site moved over from Ning) called the Nemesis. It's a Thalmor who was discovered to be Dragonborn by his superiors. Fearing a conflict of interests, the Thalmor sent him out to Darkwater Crossing just as Ulfric was being lured into a trap, and the Nemesis was captured by the Imperials and sentenced to execution. The Nemesis's main goal is to destroy those who betrayed him and being Dragonborn gives him an extra tool to help in his quest for vengeance.

Here's the build if you're interested. One of my most fun playthroughs alongside the Obsidian Sentinel that's also by Mason. https://www.tamrielvault.com/groups/topic/view/group_id/3/topic_id/1417

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This is definitely one of the better backstories I've seen for an anti-Thalmor Thalmor playthrough, but I wanted to find a build that still believed in the Thalmor cause and was working with them. There are a lot of betrayal backstories or backstories where the former Thalmor turns hero, and I didn't want that. I really wanted to work on helping the Thalmor, as difficult as it is sometimes to play an ethno-nationalist. Mostly I just end up asking myself, "what would the bad guy do?"

[blockquote][b][url=/profile/Monica21]Monica21[/url] said:[/b]

This is definitely one of the better backstories I've seen for an anti-Thalmor Thalmor playthrough, but I wanted to find a build that still believed in the Thalmor cause and was working with them. There are a lot of betrayal backstories or backstories where the former Thalmor turns hero, and I didn't want that. I really wanted to work on helping the Thalmor, as difficult as it is sometimes to play an ethno-nationalist. Mostly I just end up asking myself, "what would the bad guy do?"

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The Nemesis is definitely not a "hero", not by any means. I'd say he still believes in the Thalmor cause but is just too pissed at them to care at the moment.