[OOC] The Elder Scrolls: Shadow of Oblivion

[Alfhedil]

This is the 27th of Last Seed, the year of Akatosh 433 and though few realize it, these are the closing days of the Third Era…

It all began on that one fateful day, a day that perhaps for you it was of no importance until the moment everything changed, or maybe it had been something you had done to become a catalyst. For most Imperials leading up to it, there was no difference between this day and the last, nor certainly the next for that matter. The only notable difference was the exhibition match between The Gray Prince and a visiting Companion from Skyrim. Thousands flooded the arena to behold their own champion facing off against one of the Nords of Skyrim and the tensions between Cyrodillic Nords and their brethren began to boil as the hours passed and each bout brought them closer to the feature match.

Neither was supposed to take the fight seriously, it was just supposed to be an exhibition of the strength of the Empire as a whole, but as blood was spilt and the crowd became more and more violent, all it took was a single brick thrown amongst the refuse. Both men withstood the debris as they knew it was surely a match to inflame the rivalries between provinces, but the plan had always been to clasp hands and proclaim the Empire as the true victor. And that was when a brick struck the Gray Prince and sent him to the sands, a bellowing roar of indignation from the collective crowd as for a moment when he stood it seemed as if the initial intent of non-lethal combat was off. Keen to keep the fight from getting out of hand, the Arena officials called it then and there, quickly ushering out the spectators and getting between the two combatants.

Of course as it was the Arena and even the slightest thing can get two men to fighting over their differences, a palpable tension was in the air as irritable citizens poured from the Arena stands and into the nearby bars to drink and eat away their anger. It was there in Daggerfall Dan's Bar and Grill that a group of people had gathered, unknowing of the fate they shared, you among them. Dozens packed in as the food came hot and fresh, the wait staff doing their best to ease the worries of the crowd but knowing it was a tinderbox just waiting for that first spark.

And it came with a single spilled drink, a roar of outrage, an Altmer of the mages guild flung out of the second story window and a bar brawl that would send a group of men and mer off to their fate…

---

We stand now upon the precipice of one of the most decisive moments in the Elder Scrolls setting. A time when the Empire was at its height, when peace and prosperity was widespread and the people looked towards each day with a renewed purpose after centuries of instability. Yet there is a stirring in the background. The peace seems too idyllic, and while there is still the occasional civil war in High Rock or the dispute between Morrowind and anyone else, there is a feeling that a storm is approaching.

This is where our characters will come in to fulfill a role that was set for the player character in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Where we begin is in a jail cell after a rather rough and potentially injurious bar-brawl in the Arena District, waiting out the night until the Emperor Uriel Septim VII has need of using the secret escape tunnel in our cell. From there is where the RP will start and yes, we will be thrust directly into the plot of the game from the very beginning of this RP. Now, I'll go more in depth below but will cover it for but a moment here, but I would like to say clearly that while we will be following closely along the story beat of Oblivion, we are not going to be chained to it.

My goal for this RP is a little more than just the recreation of the game that brought the Elder Scrolls into the mainstream. While my love for Oblivion serves as the base for this RP, there will be various points where the party is intended to go off the path, perhaps even go against the main story in some ways, and we will of course have our moment where we realize that we may have fucked it. But more than that, there is the intention that this is not just the story of the Oblivion Crisis from the perspective of a bunch of random idiots tossed in a jail cell, this is in a way intended to be the origin story of our characters. While I'm not saying that the varied characters can't have their own highlights from before the bar brawl, and I'm not opposed to someone with actual skill having gotten caught up in this, there is an overarching character type that I am looking for here.

That is the idea of our characters being quite a bit out of our depth and the only real qualification for most having been in the wrong place at the wrong time. I mean sure, we will have a half-orc paladin in the way of one of my characters, a devout man of the nine and intended to provide a bit of moral and religious support for most… My man hasn't ever been to the planes of Oblivion. Very few in setting actually have, and for those unfamiliar with TES4, that is kind of the main focus. Our first foray into The Deadlands is meant to be a rather terrifying experience and the most traumatic thing to have likely happened to our merry band of idiots. We are dealing with what is essentially hell invading Tamriel and a host of daedra intending on murderburning everything and everyone in their path.

So yeah, that's the brief overview and what I hope is the expectations set for everyone. It's going to be a bit of a hectic romp through the Elder Scrolls setting, where things will start pretty metal and very likely end incredibly metal.

RP Guidelines

Right, my least favorite part of the RP aside from writing up a CS. While I would like to say that people should conduct themselves to a reasonable standard, that I can assume that everyone knows what is and isn't acceptable… Well, I've been proven wrong on that so many times in some rather incredulous ways of late. So yeah, just some things I would expect of people looking to join the RP going forward. Will say though that these are really just guidelines, not really hard and fast rules. I consider myself to be pretty fair, flexible and reasonable with people, so like keep that in mind.

- First and foremost, I am asking you, my brother in christ, to not be a dickhead. It's really not that hard an ask, and it makes the entire RP more enjoyable for everyone if there isn't that one person being an ass just because they can. Your character can be a dick all day long and while the party will hate them, as long as *you* are not being a raging cocknobbler over it and understand that there are consequences to such things, I feel like everything will be gucci.
- Secondly, communication. Also not a difficult ask to be honest, if you have a question, if you're irritated about something, or for whatever reason there may be a need to communicate… Then do so lmao. There have been so many times in not just my own RPs but in others, where an issue has blown up way out of proportion because someone sat on something that irritated them for days to weeks and then got mad because nothing happened… Because they never communicated it and just expected it to be fixed. I've got my DMs open both here on the site and on discord. It takes like five seconds.
- This is a story, not a game. On the first point of this, I would like to impress upon anyone joining that the entire point of *most* roleplays is to build a collaborative story, not to compete against your fellow players. Player conflict is not discouraged, but it's also not the entire point. We're not in the arena or the NRP section.
- And to continue on the prior point, as a whole we're only using TES4 as a guide and not a rail. Game mechanics will probably not come up at all unless there's some kind of lore-based reason and I would prefer greatly if everyone understood that to begin with. That will mean that we're not limited by a sixteen year old game in terms of what we are able to do, such as the entire party won't be frozen in place when some weird dude crawls out of a wall. That also means that there will be cases where the actual world will be expanded upon greatly. The province of Cyrodiil is mentioned to be the most populous province in Tamriel and the Imperial City home to millions.
- Absolute knowledge is not required. I'm not really looking for the most esteemed of loremasters of the Elder Scrolls to be honest, I kind of expect most people to have middling at best knowledge of things. I mean, let's be real, Morrowind is a *wild ride* from start to finish. The lore for the setting can start kind of basic in places and get so bizarre that you really start to question if Pelinal was some kind of cyborg sent from the future to murder elves. So yeah, if you know your stuff cool. If not, also cool. Oblivion was the game that brought a lot of people into the setting after all, so it would be kind of shitty to deny people based on that.
- The discord is not required, but it does make communication significantly easier. Like seriously, I'm usually on my phone when I'm not at the PC and so can usually respond fairly quickly to any questions or concerns brought up in the discord. Not only that, several of the confirmed players have an understanding of how I work already so it's not that hard to have an idea on how something will go.
- I'm going to forget things or things will happen, so this isn't exactly final. So do bear that in mind.

Character Creation Guidelines

So with all that hopefully understood, there's some things I do want to touch on before slamming down the CS and giving my final words. Following are just a few things that I want everyone to keep in mind when building a character for the RP in addition to the footnotes in the CS template.

- To reiterate, this is a story not a game. This comes in the way of not only would I rather not set up stat sheets and have to keep track of them, but I would greatly prefer it if characters weren't made as if competing against others. We're all building a story here and there will be moments where certain characters fall short and others shine. Flaws make for more immersive and interesting characters after all.
- *On that note*. With some very minor exceptions, the party is really not intended to be a high level party. We're not rolling with arena champions, the chosen of daedric princes or Vivec's bestie. To be completely honest, in a way the party is kind of a bunch of losers and some people who were really just in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's kind of intended to be the theme of things, in that while some are capable in their own ways, we are so far out of our depth on this.
- Though I did say that knowledge of the lore wasn't necessary, do try to keep within the confines as much as possible. There is a rich history of strife between most of the provinces and several thousand years of daedra trying to fuck with things. A worshiper of Mehrunes Dagon would quite obviously be right out, but a devotee of Azura could potentially be alright. Just the same, there are reasons why certain groups don't get along. Just kind of understand that when making your character.
- If there are any questions on your character, *ask*. Like honestly, I'm pretty flexible and if you've got an interesting idea I'm more likely to be cool with it if it is brought up to me first before just yeeting out a thousand year old Maormer veteran of the Legion. On that note though… Please try not to get *that* wild with your character ideas. I like weird and sometimes nonstandard things, and I'm willing to defend outlandish ideas but only to a point.

The Character Sheet

- Basic Information
Name:
Age: (Your character's age, appropriate to their race. Mer typically live two to three times longer than an average Human, and the Beastfolk generally line up with Human lifespans. )
Race: (Choose from one of the standard ten races. Nord, Imperial, Redguard, Breton, Bosmer, Altmer, Dunmer, Orsimer, Khajiit, or Argonian. Anything beyond this should be cleared first.)
Appearance: (A written description is preferred, but a picture can be found acceptable. )
Personality:

- Abilities (From basic survival skills to what kind of magical talent your character has, this section will give more of a direct view on what the character is capable of in any given scenario.)
Skills: (Be reasonable here. The UESP can be a good reference as well as the actual games in terms of baseline skills, but it's not something required or expected. Anything not listed here or in the magic section will be assumed as unskilled or baseline. Alchemy would be listed here as opposed to in the magic section.)
Magic: (Again, use reason and the understanding that this isn't meant to be a one to one with the game. Someone with very little experience shouldn't have a large repertoire of spells, if any at all. On the other hand, someone who has spent their life in the Mages Guild should likely know more spells than they know what to do with. For magic focused characters please denote schools of magic and their proficiency in such, in addition to spells of note. For everyone else who may have some magical ability, note which ones they have on hand. Also again, you do not have to use actual in game spells. This does include enchanting.)

- Equipment (Depending on their physical ability your character can only carry a certain amount of gear on their person. This includes bags, pouches, sacks and other containers. Heavy armor is heavy, and light armor is light. Take that into account when equipping your character. Arrows additionally have weight and are not infinite. This category is intended to stand on its own and is broken down into three sections, the latter two of which are optional. )
Personal Items: (These are items and clothing that your character has on their physical person, what they were wearing when they were put into the cell. Do keep in mind that this may be a very limited list, and would not include any weapons that could be discovered via a simple pat down.)
The Lock Box: (As may be assumed, this section is intended to list out what the guards confiscated from your character before placing them in the cell with the rest of the party. This is where things like weapons and such would go, anything that the guards wouldn't want in a cell full of assumed drunks and rabble-rousers.)
Stored Items: (What isn't on your character physically or confiscated by the guard. This is pretty much for anything of importance that may be found at your character's residence, whether that be an actual home in the Imperial City, a room at the inn, or an heirloom somewhere else entirely.)

Background: (Short history of your character to give an idea as to their past, and how it shaped them as a person.)

All that out of the way I do hope that regardless of the interested parties we can all fit in the same jail cell and have a good time of things. I'm not really going to be implementing a limit on characters out of the gate, or a post requirement, only that people be aware of each other while going forward. That aside, I'm looking at starting everything in three weeks from this post or when everyone is ready to go, depending on how I'm doing at the time. Understand I can kind of write slow at times, so we're not exactly going to be fast paced and hit a thousand by the end of the year lmao. So, that said I hope to see everyone in the discord and hear what ideas are floating about.

Shadow of Oblivion Discord

[Athol]

Huzzah!

[Sir Lurksalot]

The Freakin' Groundskeeper

"...So, would this be a bad time to point out that I have no idea what I'm doing?"

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Name: Caddach Thraigyr
Age: 19
Race: Breton, Mostly
Appearance: Of relatively modest height— standing at only 5'6"— but surprisingly built as a consequence of both his occupation and the Karthic blood in his veins. Caddach's light brown hair (with the occasional tinge of the ginge) is cut short in the legionary fashion, both to keep it out of his way and to keep his head cool during those balmy Cyrodiil summers, where he often finds himself working on the palace's roof— which also accounts for his near constant farmer's tan.

Personality: A child of Cyrodiil through and through, Caddach is a clever, hardworking, often sarcastic but all around good natured kind of lad who, despite all his family's wealth and being noble by birth, has never really acted the part; the result of growing up around many different kinds of people from all sorts of places as well as his House's general shutting out from 'Proper Society' by the Nibenese High-Nobility for their 'foreign' origins and ways. As such, to the eyes of anyone else, he's pretty much just your average kid from the Imperial City— knowing the place with the kind of intuition only a local could. Like where to get what you want, where you'll be ripped off and where to cover your coin-purse as well as being on a first-name basis with all sorts; beggars, mercs, shopkeeps, inn-keepers and guards— many of whom he's known since he was a kid and some he actually grew up with. Though that's not to say he's some soft-skinned city boy either, and his youthful travels as well as being raised largely by his grandparents have made him just as comfortable sitting at a campfire in Black Marsh, hiking through the Colovian Highlands or within the walls of Orsinium as he would be at home.

At the end of the day, despite his storied lineage and arguably much more successful siblings, our boy Caddach has never aspired to be anything more than what he actually is. Just a local guy, loyal to his Empire and Emperor, doing his job, paying his taxes and going out for a drink with his friends on the weekends or dropping in on his family to see his grandparents, maybe get a free meal out of his mum and definitely to play with the pets.

Just a guy. Nothing more, nothing less.

---

Abilities:

Skills

Groundskeeper: Caddach's job is to maintain the Imperial Palace, and he's actually gotten pretty good at it; a bit of carpentry here, a bit of slating or masonry there, sweeping or scrubbing the floors... That kind of thing.

Innawoods Survival Training: A consequence of all those trips he took as a boy, and going out camping with his grandparents so often; Caddach is actually quite comfortable in the outdoors and can hunt, scavenge, fish, build a fire to cook things he hunts, scavenges and fishes and doesn't do too bad of a job at the cooking part either. Can also do the basic things like building a lean-to to protect himself from the elements when he sleeps and knows where to, and more importantly, where not to dig a latrine.

Animal Knowledge: When you grow up with a Druid and a Reachman for grandparents, in a house with many animals, like, for example; a lazy sabrecat, a cuddly, very well taken care of and affectionate skeever and multiple horse-sized wolves... you learn a few things. Though this will likely not see much use outside of perhaps tracking game, identifying and warding off wild animals and perhaps, just maybe, deactivating a hostile— or just scared— beast with the application of precision scritches in the right spot.

Martial Knowledge: Though he hasn't seriously trained with a weapon in years, as a scion to a family of knights, a good chunk of his youth before entering the Arcane University (and even then, unofficially carrying it on under his 'tutor') was spent in martial training, making him familiar with weapons of all kinds— and having more of a knack for it at the time than maybe even he himself realised... Though the most he gets out of it these days is the occasional spar with bored palace guards or a few nobles.

Educated: Though Caddach doesn't speak, or usually act all that differently than your other average kid born and raised in the Imperial City, and generally keeps his mouth shut and his head down while doing his work, he's actually far more clever than he ever really lets on. Sharp, even for a Breton and not at all hindered by his family's relative wealth affording him a damned decent education from an early age and access to all the books he could ever want as a kid.

Magicka: Before his unceremonious booting from the Arcane University, Caddach managed to pick up a thing or two from his... particularly unorthodox teacher. Namely a bit of restoration, some uncommon tricks from the school of destruction (like the ability to use melee weapons as a magical focus, though he is somewhat out of practice with it) and an actually impressive amount from the school of alteration; some of which are technically forbidden under Tamrielic law.

Herbalism: Caddach's dear old grandma Elyza was a druid back in the day, and made sure to pass on some of her knowledge to her darling little 'Snuggle-Bug'. So while his tumultuous time at the Arcane University prevented him from becoming a proper alchemist, he still has more than enough knowledge to identify and make use of nature's bounty to know what can be eaten and to create everything from salves, tonics and remedies to more mundane things like good spices, soothing teas, refreshing poscas and some of grandma's assorted super-secret recipes for food and snacks.

Magic

Destruction

Frost: Skilled enough to use it offensively... maybe, but these days Caddach uses it mainly to chill his drink or, on a really hot day, on himself to cool off, so he's a bit out of practice.

Fire: As above, our boy is— theoretically, anyway— skilled enough to make use of fire spells on the attack. However, Caddach hasn't actually done so in a while, mainly using it for mundane things like heating his tea or cooking his lunch on the fly, so he's juuuuust a bit rusty.

Shock: Something Caddach was trained extensively in, both by Ted and his grandfather before that, as a Nine-Damned lightning bolt to the face is an immediate and particularly effective 'Fuck you and your mom' to anybody looking for the smoke. However, he basically hasn't used it at all since taking on his new job, as there isn't much place for lightning in the day-to-day life of a Groundskeeper, so he's severely out of practice.

Water: A neat, non-standard variation of the Frost spell Caddach picked up as a kid. Useful for a quick drink on the go, filling canteens and buckets or hosing down your friends as a cheeky prank. Actually gets a lot of use out of this one on hot days.

Alteration

Glowlight: One of Caddach's more day-to-day spells, mainly because it's a helluva lot better than carrying a torch around all day on the off-chance he has to keep working into the night. With the added bonus that it's a lot less likely to catch things (like, say, tar) on fire.

Waterwalking: One of the first spells Caddach ever learned as a child, and something he used so often it became almost second nature. Great for not drowning if you fall off a boat, getting to weird places or, if you were a dumb kid like he was in his youth, infinite amusement riding those big damned waves off the Gold Coast. Also very useful for catching slaughterfish, oddly enough; As all you really have to do is stand there, wiggle your feet to get one's attention, then step out of the way as it comes up— mad as all Oblivion and looking for your toes— and whack it with a stick.

Waterbreathing: Something else he learned early on when he was a kid, partly as a back up in case the waterwalking thing failed for some reason and partly because he had a lot of Argonian friends growing up, and the spell helped him keep up with their innate ability to breathe underwater all those times they went out for a dive in the Niben looking for cool stuff or for a bit of spear fishing.

Feather/Burden: A combo of spells Caddach's Dremora friend was damned sure to drill into his head for their utility and for the fact that, in his own words "Anything you can make weigh a few hundred pounds on the downswing is a damned fine weapon.". Unlike a lot of other things he learned from Ted, he actually uses these almost every damned day in his new job, as there's no shortage of heavy things he has to carry or hammers that could use juuuust a little more 'Oomph!'.

Shield: Another hand-me-down from Ted, who reasoned that if the boy was going to be throwing spells, he might as well learn how to protect against them, too— As well as any hypothetical jackass comes at him with a big damned axe or something of the like. Suffice to say, hasn't really had much use of it as of late.

Levitation: Another thing he learned from Ted; While Caddach is nowhere near the level of, say, the masters in Morrowind (who can outright fly), he can 'Jump good' and 'Not die' pretty great after coming down, too. And while these feats are technically illegal under the so-called Levitation Act of 3E 421, the Palace Guards have always looked the other way the one or two times where he (or a coworker) have fallen off the roof and he chose to break the law instead of making a big red mess all over the Emperor's lawn.

Unlock: Really great for when Caddach forgets his keys.

Restoration

Healing: It was never his strong suit, but Caddach can heal his own wounds and to a lesser extent, others. Though it's a slower process than someone who's actually skilled in the art and a whole lot less... pleasant; with wounds still leaving behind gnarly scars afterward and bones roughly snapping back into place instead of gently weaving themselves back together as they normally would.

Fortify Strength/Speed: Something Caddach learned very quickly after he started going on those dives with his friends as a kid. More specifically, after encountering his first swarm of slaughterfish and having to piggyback a (slightly chewed) Argonian all the way home.

Equipment:

Personal Items

-Work clothes; Leather boots with steel toe-caps, brown work pants with a whole lotta pockets bloused into said boots to stop them getting caught on things, and a simple, white short-sleeved shirt with more than a few stains on it from his job.
-A little paper bag of the Arena's home brand of jerky, sweet and spicy flavoured.
-Two little bread rolls.
-A wet cloth one of the guards gave him on request, one that he's frosted over to have something cool to hold against his now very sore head and black eye.

The Lock Box

-His keys, both for around the palace and to his family home.
-A Wine-skin filled with honey-juniper posca.
-A set of dice.

Background:

The Charming Tale of a Young Man Destined to be Punched in the Face

Born to a branch of an ancient, though (until relatively recently) minor noble house from the Westreach region of High Rock that had migrated down to the Imperial City in his grandparents' day, Caddach had... honestly, a pretty damned decent childhood. Though not high enough on the social totem pole to be invited to those kinds of galas, banquets and balls the Nibenese elite like to throw every other day, partly due to being considered 'Foreigners', even after three generations of living in the capital and partly due to the sheer scandal of a family perceived to be far too friendly with those savages of the Reach— though that accusation in particular actually has some truth to it, as the young man's grandfather and namesake being very much a Reachman, his mother half-so, though she tried to hide it, and even his father's side of the family being suspiciously broad-shouldered and more sturdily built than most Bretons— the tidy profit his family earned from the overland trade of rare alchemical goods, ores and animals from their holdings in the Westreach, spices from eastern Hammerfell and lumber from Colovia meant that he and his family could live very comfortably indeed. Even moreso when his eldest brother took the two remaining ships the family had mothballed in Anvil after trade across the Abecean dried up in the wake of the War of Betony to extend their usual trade route down the Niben and into southern Elsweyr and Black Marsh.

So, Caddach whittled his days away as a youth away playing in the streets with the other neighbourhood kids like any child of the Imperial City would, learning how to fight as any Thraigyr child should and every once in a while riding out on the back of his Karthwolf, Ryka (a very good girl, in case you were wondering) to visit his uncle out in Kvatch, or going up the trade route with his dad one way to visit friends and relatives in High Rock, Hammerfell and Orsinium or down the other to meet with new trading partners in Elsweyr and Argonia— One trip to the latter in particular resulting in a tattoo on his shoulder a local shaman insisted he should have, the boy himself thought was kind of neat and his mother absolutely hated.

Finally, at the age of fourteen, his second oldest brother began poking him about joining him in the Legions in a few years time. But his heart was set on writing his entrance exams and getting into the Arcane University, so he could stay close to home, which he did that very same year.

And incidentally, that's about when his life ceased to be a charming tale of a young lad traveling the world and making new friends along the way and became a outright fucking comedy.

For no sooner did he walk in the front door to the highest institution of learning in the entire Empire, did he encounter Saullon Ocato— or as he'll call him 'til the day he dies; 'The Fuckwit'— who took one look at him up and down and decided that there was no way in Nirn or Oblivion that this 'Little Barbarian Shit' was going to pollute his university. And very quickly, Caddach would find to his initial horror and eventual annoyance that any potion he mixed would either fail or just blow up in his face, any book he tried to study or report he tried to write would mysteriously either go missing, burst into flames, or some other crazy shit, and any official he tried to bring this apparent sabotage to the attention to, or Nine forbid asked to be taught by being dismissive, mocking, aloof, outright hostile or any combination of the above.

Nevermind all the times his clothes would just vanish off his body as he walked through the halls. Or freeze solid. Or spontaneously combust. Or all the times Saul and his ilk would just casually stroll up and punch him right in the godsdamned face, knowing full well he wasn't allowed to hit them back— Something in particular that galled Caddach as he was pretty certain he only needed to punch the spindly Altmer exactly once to snap every bone above his shoulders.

A few months into his new career, unable to learn, no one willing to teach him but with his family having supported the university too generously in the past (while probably being unaware of it's inner workings) to get rid of him, the lad would find himself downgraded to being essentially an unpaid janitor. Which is where, oddly enough, he found the only instructor he'd ever have his whole time there- 'Ted', Saullon's own bound Daedra who'd been stuck with him for over a decade and hated the little bastard even more than Caddach did. And who was more than happy to teach him all sorts of things the instructors never would, even if they were doing their jobs; like how to fool magic wards, pop open locks with a touch, the first two phases of now very illegal levitation magic and how to really fight with magic. Things Caddach would use to get into the library to sneakily read all the books that were suddenly forbidden to him, and educate himself on all the gaps that Ted couldn't teach.

Two years past that, our boy had long since given up on ever rising above his status as the unofficial toilet-scrubber for the University and was simply learning for his own sake. Riiiiight up until he found one book in particular, one he realized he had to study thoroughly, spending an entire week on it, in fact. Following which he'd toss his mage robes directly into the trash, and go looking for Saullon, who he'd find as he typically did throughout the day, with his whole hypesquad of dipshits and a grumbling Ted in tow and immediately unbound the powerful Daedra right on the spot with all he'd learned from that particular book, a last favour to the best friend he had ever made in that damned place. Who, in turn, must've been the happiest Dremora that ever fucking existed.

He had been waiting years to deliver this ass-whooping, after all.

As Caddach expected, he was immediately expelled from the Arcane University for that particular stunt, though officially he was let go for his poor grades; the full scope of the incident and all that led up to it being a serious threat too many careers if it ever made the light of day in an official report. At that point, though, Caddach could really give less of a shit about it, and was just happy to leave. There was the slight possibility however that Saullon, being of distant relation to the High Chancellor of the Elder Council, might come back to bite him and more alarmingly his family in the ass, but as it turned out, Ocato of Firsthold hated the Fuckwit just as much as he did, and was actually pretty pleased to see him get a healthy dose of reality (and Daedric fists) to the face.

Hell, that's probably what got him his current job in the first place. As not even three days after the 'incident', one of his childhood friends from the block who grew up to be a member of Imperial Intelligence just happened to arrive at exactly the moment his mother's screaming about how he'd ruined his own career reached it's daily crescendo to offer to take him to the palace to interview for a suddenly open position as a groundskeeper. Which he was more than happy to take him up on as it got him out of that damned house. Where he would meet with a Khajiiti aide to the Council who would go over the specifics of the job, how he'd be apprenticed to masons, slaters, carpenters— he would pause a moment to note with the kind of amused smirk only a cat could pull off that 'This one is told you don't need to be taught how to clean'—, that he'd stay in the general servants quarters for a few months before getting his own little room, and that, most importantly— and they really stressed this— he was to "Pay attention."

And there he's been ever since. Cleaning out eavestroughs, scrubbing floors, re-slating the roof and, most importantly watching, listening and learning as he was instructed to do those three years ago. And honestly? He kinda likes it. Sure, the labour can be rough sometimes, and you get a lot of weird things going on in the Imperial Palace, buuuuut, it pays well, the room, food and haircuts are free, he gets weekends off and he's actually made a few friends among the other palace staff and guards; even going out to the Arena then onto Daggerfall Dan's after quittin' time every other Fredas.

All in all, he's back to a comfortable life.

...Well, was.

Right up until the big boss let him off early to go see the big fight in the arena and some dickhead tripped him in the bar afterward, making him spill some beer. Which, subsequently, earned him the mother of all punches to the face.

He doesn't know it yet, but his life's about to get a whole lot less comfy.

...The massive shiner he's currently wearing aside.

[josephb]

Hey are you still accepting characters?

[Alfhedil]

Hey are you still accepting characters?

@josephb

Yes we are, still plenty of time and honestly I don't really intend on shutting recruitment unless something really silly happens lol.

[Athol]

Darmon Saishir

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Name: Darmon Saishir
Age: 26
Race: Redguard
Appearance: Not a large man by any measure, Darmon stands only about 5’5” and is quite lightly built; Though not a warrior by any means, his life being nearly perpetually ‘on the road’ as it were has kept him quite fit…despite his preference for richer food and drink.

Like many of his people, he favours the flowing hoods and robe styles native to his home land; though not overly flashy compared to some of his peers, obvious wealth ‘on the road’ draws bandits like honey draws flies.

Darmon

Personality:
A friendly and outgoing fellow, as any successful merchant should be; he's a man who tries to take work seriously but life, not so much. Growing up a ‘Merchant Prince’ of Sentinel, but spending plenty of time down on the docks with his uncle (and older brother), he’s as comfortable drinking in rough taverns with the average folk as he is trading polite nothings with ‘high society’ (though he prefers somewhat more of a middle ground; rough enough to have an actual fun time, but classy enough that people bathe regularly.)

His charming and outgoing nature, and good looks also has a tendency to make him rather popular with many of the women that he crosses paths with..and very unpopular with quite a few of their husbands/fathers/fiancees etc; he’s also fond of ‘justifying’ his actions by saying ”If the man was better at his duties as a partner, the lady wouldn’t have found me nearly as interesting.”

This philosophy has gotten him run out of numerous towns as establishments over the years.

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Abilities

Swordsmanship - While he’d be the first to admit he’s no Arena Champion or Companion when it comes to swordplay, Darmon is certainly skilled enough to defend himself from the usual lowlifes and cutthroats he sometimes encounters.

Archery (Crossbow) - Like his swordsmanship, it’s not anything special, but he’s a good enough shot to both defend himself and keep fed between towns.

Sleight of hand - He was taught by an ex-Thieves Guild man he knew in Sentinel as a boy, and over the years he’s learned a few new tricks in his travels. Though largely used as an ‘ice breaker’ in social moments, what he knows has saved his skin on a few occasions.

Alchemist - Another thing learned for its practicality for someone travelling the length and breadth of Tamriel. Though he only knows a handful of recipes by heart, he knows them quite well, though some more than others.

Magic: None

Equipment

Personal Items

• Typical clothing for a man from Hammerfell
• Saishir Family signet ring

The Lock Box

• Steel dagger
• Pouch of Septims

Stored Items

• Legion surplus crossbow
• Bolt quiver (12)
• Scimitar
• Trading Catalogue
• Travel Bag

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Background

Born the second son and third child of the head of the Saishir Trading Company, Sentinel’s third largest trading firm, he was born into the sort of wealth that most only find amongst Tamriel's nobility. That said, unlike too many of said nobility, his father wasn’t one to let his children become spoilt, idle layabouts that leeched off of the hard work of the folks that worked for Saishir Trading.

To his father’s credit, he also did his best to mould his children into jobs that most suited them. In Darmon’s case, his ‘itchy feet’ as his mother would put it and an easy and charming personality made him best suited to be one of the company’s point men, travelling Tamriel, searching out new products to bring to Hammerfell, buyers for goods coming the other way, making friends and contacts, in both high and low places.

By fourteen Darmon was travelling with his brother on the Sentinel to Anvil run, making friends, opening talks with other trading companies, and by sixteen he was setting off inland, eventually making his way as far as the edges of Morrowind and Black Marsh. At twenty his tiring, but freewheeling, life hit a bit of a hiccup as it was decided that he should be married to cement ties between his family and one of the noble houses of Sentinel. While a drag, he knew the young woman he was to marry and had always considered her a friend.

Though everything else proceeded as planned, all was not without issue. After some awkward confessions on the wedding night, Darmon and his wife Chan came to a few agreements and settled into ‘married’ life, with a lovely woman named Kiarsa as their servant and nanny once their son Limdon was born. While he spends much of his time on the road, both for his job and just because he enjoys the travel, he does his best to return home regularly to keep up with his family.

Currently he’s been in the Imperial City for a few days, overseeing some trade negotiations between Saishir Trading and the Imperial Trading Company. With his dealings having gone well, he decided to spend some time with a lovely lady while most of the city was off at the Arena for the big bout; sadly their plans fell apart rather quickly after the bout was cancelled suddenly and the lady’s father returned home sooner than expected, drunk, angry and with her equally drunk and unhappy fiancee in tow…though Darmon would swear to the Divines that he didn’t know the lady in question was already betrothed.

The two men were in no mood to debate such semantics, so he found himself dropping off a second story balcony and running, most likely for his life. Knowing he couldn’t run forever, he made the fateful decision to try and hide from his pursuers in a local place called ‘Daggerfall Dan’s’. Rushing through the door, he had just enough time to see a breton kid go crashing into a table of off-duty guardsmen…before several hundred pounds of angry, who’d been closer than he realised, hit him from behind.

[Sir Lurksalot]

@Alfhedil
Donezo!

[josephb]

Should have my CS up in the next couple of days

[Alfhedil]

Just for anyone not in the discord and still working on a character, which honestly should come in and have a chat with us lol, but I'll be pushing us out by another week so that I can have the IC start in a better position and offer some more time to anyone that wants to start in the actual cell. We're going to be a bit limited on random NPCs at the start, so it will be just those ready to go by the time things get rolling.

Not to say that no one can join in after we get started, but we'll have to work you in with alternative entrances.

[Krash]

Interested :) Will strive to get a character up by this weekend.

[Alfhedil]

Alright folks, I've added Khaliya to the character tab and soon enough we're going to have the IC post up. Once the post is up everyone will be free to post from there, preferably with at least a mention of what they were doing in Daggerfall Dan's before everything went tits up as the saying goes.

[Alfhedil]

Thought about fiddling with the formatting a bit more, but honestly it's been long enough so I decided to just send it. So here we go.

@Sir Lurksalot@Athol@Cuddles 1438 You are good to post when ready as ready, there is no post order until the Emperor arrives, so have at it. Can either lead in with a brief recall on the bar fight or just keep it to the cell, that's a decision for each of you.

@josephb@Krash And One more that I need to ping on the discord itself, but for you guys and anyone looking in either working on a CS or thinking of joining, until the Emperor arrives the party is still open for putting new faces in the cell. Only after the Emperor comes in and we start getting underway will the party be locked.

[Krash]

Savor Dalvaro

Name: Savor Dalvaro
Age: 85
Race: Dunmer
Appearance: Typical skin of those blackened by Azura. Savor is remarkably average of height at 5'9" with ashen charcoal skin and angled pronounced bone structure. He enjoys high, pointed cheekbones, and a pronounced angled brow. He's athletic without being overtly muscular. He has longer hair that reaches just about to his collarbone which he usually keeps in a ponytail along with a pronounced goatee ending in three long strands with fishbone beads ending them.

Portrait

Personality:Savor is a man with masks. Being an entertainer he puts on a mask of outgoing bravado out of necessity. He's been doing it so long that it's become almost permanent. To be fair it's combined well with his already cocky natural persona but he normally doesn't overly enjoy the extended company of others. However he quite enjoys the company of people even quieter than him leading to his nocturnal hobbies where he will quite often converse with the very corpses he's robbing. On that note, Savor is an opportunist first. He's not going to go out of his way to pick pocket someone or rob a house but if there's something of value just left in the open, Savor won't wince morally over relieving whoever was so careless of their burden. He doesn't favor fair fights and will leave if the situation turns too sour.

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Abilities:

Skills

Tomb Robber: Savor's chosen profession, his real profession. He's become skilled at recognizing traps, spelunking dank caves, occasional lock picking, and generally going places unseen. He fancies himself a good sneak as he's never been directly caught entering or exiting a tomb, cemetery, crypt, etc but still, he doesn't directly burgle people's homes while they're asleep so…

Circus Performer The more public of Savor's professions. He utilizes a combination of acrobatic twirls, as well as destruction and illusion magic and even light alchemy to create spectacles for others often relying on his own natural resistance towards heat to his benefit as he often plays with fire. He's not an acrobat soaring through the air but rather a general walking performer away from the spotlight of the main event.

Alchemical tinkerer: OK, not an alchemist but he's picked up some tricks in the circus for creating a few things here and there, mostly for show or to help recover after a performance but the circus does draw questionable people and so he's learned about more devious concoctions such as poisons to coat arrows and blades. He's trying to make sense of herbalism in the wild but is still quite weak.

Combat:This isn't a skill but rather a place holder denoting his preference. Savor is not a swordsman nor an archer. He enjoys using lightweight throwing knives, daggers, darts, things he could use to dispatch a foe at range, perform at a bar/circus, or quietly slide through the ribs of an unsuspecting person.

Enchanting: Again, Savor's skillset isn't complete on the matter but, in his time fencing tomb spoils, he's found some rather impressive items. Now he's usually had to pawn those off to make ends meet, he's still destroyed one here or there to attempt to understand the spells and how they're used but he's not trained in it, he's currently reading a book he found on soul trapping but he's miles away from being able to actually do it.

Magicka: Self-taught, or learned from bar patrons or other circus performers, his skillset is bizarre and focused more on entertaining more than anything else.

Magic

Destruction:
Fire:Enough to hurt, possibly himself, he's far from a wizard but he's learned a few spells to blast fire out at dramatic moments during a performance and occasionally burn a highwayman that might try to steal from him.

Illusion:The focal point of Savor's 'studies.' A wonderful marriage of making his life easier whether on the stage or in a crypt. While he tries to pick up spells here and there in destruction to help, he really favors illusion more.
Nighteye/Light:Two sides of the same coin, he uses nighteye in his more nocturnal activities but uses light to a wonderful effect on the stage.

Calm/Paralyze: Used on the occasional animal found lurking in a tomb, he avoids fighting fair if at all possible and will run from battles straight away, this allows him to avoid killing anything in a tomb while still getting the loot.

Invisibility: He's often been torn as to whether he should have focused more on this or chameleon but he was younger and it was easier to learn absolute invisibility just by learning invisibility whereas he was told it would take time to master Chameleon.

Equipment:

Personal Items

-Personal clothes: Savor prefers loose fitting clothing reminiscent of his time in Morrowind before the fury of the Red Mountain. Right now he's a natural cream colored loose fitting long sleeve double breasted tunic tucked into gray loose pants that are, themselves, tucked into netch leather boots that end just below the knee. Over the tunic he wears an orange rust colored vest featuring a scaled pattern and yellow trim secured together with a broach made from sea shells. Over his belt line, securing his pants is a leather belt, perhaps 4-5 inches tall with what looks like fishing net running across his naval region securing the belt, the belt used to have some designs on it but they've long since faded and he wasn't the original owner. From the belt hangs a crimson sash that covers his left leg both front and back with the symbol of the Ahemmusa tribe on the inside and a leather pouch that usually rests on the three o'clock position of his right thigh.
-in the leather pouch is a collection of septims and a pendant with two small emeralds and a woman's likeness carved into it, he's unsure if it's a person or a goddess.

The Lock Box

-three throwing darts in a wrist mounted pouch

Stash

-three throwing daggers in a chest bandolier
-a rather incomplete set of netch leather armor
-a large brimmed hat made from a mudcrab's shell
-lockpick set
-book on soul trapping
-tomb robbing equipment he refers to as spelunking supplies: rope, climbing pitons, a compact shovel
-a brown cloth tent shelter that also functions as a traveling cape/poncho originally from the deserts of Morrowind that's been treated for the rains of Cyrodiil.
-fishing tackle

Background:

History

An Ashlander child once upon a time, he grew up poor along with the rest of the Ahemmusa tribe. Savor wanted more though and once saw a group of funeral mourners making their way through his lands, he marveled at the wealth they seemed to have with bright jewels and gold. He wondered how important the deceased must have been but never pursued it. While exploring the bitter coast one season after migrating, Savor noticed a ruined ship he'd never seen before and, curiosity getting the better of him, he chose to explore it's hold. Inside was a skeleton with tatters of clothing about, but most importantly, there was a ring upon it's boned finger and a handful of septims strewn around him. Savor was giddy at the possibility of extra coin and took it from the corpse that clearly didn't need to eat as much as he did anymore. That moment, conjoined with the mourners, would serve as the cornerstone of a change in his life. He decided that the dead had no need for the riches they were buried with and, while he respected the tribes of the desert, the Outlanders and the Great Houses that lost their way from the path of Veloth deserved no such respect.

He found himself bringing extra wealth to his people and, while suspicious of the sources, they were more than happy to accept it. When the blighted creatures from the Ash storms became more and more common, he began to spend more time away from the tribe in what he viewed as safety and when their Ashkhan was claimed by the blight, that was a sign for him that the tribe was lost and so he fled the camp for his own safety taking what wealth he still had with him. He never met the Nerevarine.

It didn't last long as he was still an Ashlander and unfamiliar with more civilized life but found his way to a traveling circus which was an easier bridge into society from his own nomadic lifestyle. For a while he thrived but then languished in a lack of growth as they continued to do the same thing over and over. He remembered pillaging crypts and began again, he maintained his sense of honor from the Ahemmusa tribe and didn't touch anything that appeared to be Ashlander but that wasn't as much of a problem now and the Great Houses had more than enough dead people to supply him.

That lasted for a long time until some intelligent person began to connect the dots of tombs being disturbed whenever this particular circus was visiting. Savor was aware that House Telvanni was on guard regarding disturbances in their Crypts and one particular night a friend informed him that they were sending House guards to the circus that was all Savor needed to know that it was time for him to leave. Telvanni seemed to spread word to the other Houses as Savor was seemingly no longer welcome in any towns and one attempted Bounty Hunter sent Savor fleeing from his home island of Vvardenfell to Morrowind's larger land mass where he continued his lifestyle eventually taking him to Cyrodiil. He found particular success closer to Imperial's as they seemed to leave their dead open for the taking and seemed to love gathering together to watch performers.

The circus that Savor performed with found its way to the Imperial City one fateful night and the performance was wonderful in both of his professions. Unfortunately on the last night Savor found himself in Daggerfall Dans relishing the success of his new life. He can't honestly remember the night as he was truly celebrating, but he vaguely remembers punching or, at least trying to punch, a guard and then waking up and feeling the cold floor of a prison cell.

[josephb]

Sorry the couple of days turned into a couple of weeks, was busier than I thought I'd be. Let me know if you want me to change anything.

Hider

Name: Elliot Ashton

Age: Seventeen

Race: Breton

Appearance: Elliot stands around five foot ten and has a slightly chubby frame, he has started to look slimmer since becoming a squire but nowhere near to the shape he needs to be if he’s to become a knight. Saying that though, he has lost a lot of weight since childhood where he was a really fat child. Elliot has a mop of messy hair that is a dark blonde colour that just goes just past his ears that stick out. He has emerald green eyes and a nose that is just a bit too big for his face. His smile is nice though and makes him look friendly and open.

Personality: Elliot can be very nervous when first meeting new people and being in situations that he’s not used to but since leaving Daggerfall he’s started to come out of his shell a bit more. Although he is quite clever, he can lack a bit of common sense and not realise when someone is being sarcastic with him. He usually tries his best to help people with their problems, from a young age his mother read him stories about heroes and it’s filled his head with ideas of being a hero himself.

Skills: From a fighting and adventuring stand point doesn’t really have many skills having grown up having most things handed to him. The past few years though he has been learning how to fight with a sword and shield and how to use a bow. He’s shown that he is quite useful with the bow but from an experience standpoint he’s never actually killed anyone and only fired arrows at a target. Elliot is great at horse riding being a natural at it. He can play the lute and has a wonderful singing voice.

Magic: Has never really practised magic.

Personal items: Elliot at the time of being arrested was wearing some expertly crafted leather armour that was created by some of the best tailors in Daggerfall. Also, they didn’t remove his ear studs that had emeralds in them.

Lock Box: The only items that Elliot had on him at the time of being arrested was a steel long sword and a few gold coins.

Stored items: The rest of his items are kept at the inn he stayed in and his horse is in the stables just outside of the city. Which would be a well designed set of steel armour with elaborate patterns crafted into it, his steel long bow and quiver and also a lute.

Background: Elliot grew up in one of the richest families in Daggerfall, the Viralaines. His mother, Luciana was the daughter of the head of the family, Theranis. Theranis was one of the most powerful men in Daggerfall so it was a massive shock throughout the city when his daughter was pregnant. She had fallen in love with a travelling bard who was playing at court. When her father found out he was furious and threw the bard in jail and was planning on executing him but Luciana managed to convince him not to.

After Elliot was born, Theranis tried to marry Luciana to any other respectable man in Daggerfall but none were willing to take a woman with a bastard son as a wife. Luciana tried to marry the father of her son, Timothee, but every priest in the city was too scared to anger her father. They used to meet in secret whenever they could because her father would never let him anywhere near the Daggerfall court again. Timothee rented a room above a tavern and played there most nights to pay for it so he could continue to see Luciana and their son.

As Elliot grew up living in the wealthiest district of Daggerfall, he was a bit of an outcast being a bastard and surrounded by children who weren’t. It also didn’t help that he was fat, shy and didn’t practise and in the ways of becoming a knight to the annoyance of his grandfather. His father didn’t agree with war and wanted his son to learn a craft that was peaceful and from an early age taught him how to play the lute and sing. However, the influence of his grandfather was too great and when he turned thirteen, he started to learn the ways of war. For the next few years Elliot started to practise how to fight with sword and shield, how to ride a horse and use a bow. It took him a while to become semi competent.

When he turned sixteen, his grandfather sent him to squire for a knight to get some real-world experiences. The knight was called Sir Alard and he came from a very well-respected family but a poor one. Personally, he took it as a but of an insult that his squire was a bastard but couldn’t say no to Theranis as he needed the money. They set off travelling around High Rock and then headed to Cyrodill and to the Imperial City where Alard could test his skills in the Arena. Accompanying the two was a servant who cooked and set up their camp when they were not staying in a city or town. Sir Alard treated them both awfully and beat them when they messed up, he didn’t really care about what they thought, believing he was better than both of them. When they reached the Imperial City, they stayed in a very average inn and spent most of their evenings in the Daggerfall Dan’s Bar and Grill. When the trouble erupted the servant was pushed into Sir Alard who then started to beat him. The servant finally snapped and pulled the dagger from around Alards waist and stabbed him in the stomach, it didn’t take long for him to die. Elliot was in a state of shock when he was arrested and taken to the dungeons.