Raineh Daze

The Elder Scrolls V S: Sentinel

A Brief Treatise on the Post-Stormcloak Years

by Marcus Ancharia

It would be remiss of any work dealing with the results of the Stormcloak Revolution to not address the event itself. For the novice scholar, simply bear in mind that in the 4th Era, years 201 through 203, no clear news came from the province and both the Empire and Dominion awaited a result. When the dust had settled, it was not the Legion that emerged, but news of an assassination, dragons, and an army fronted by dragonborn.

With the advantages of Nordic magic and a dragon's co-operation, the dragonborn took the White-Gold tower and was proclaimed Emperor, Ysmir to the Nords and Glaucia Whitestrake, ruling under the name of two of Man's heroes. The subsequent shift in power within the province of Cyrodiil from the Colovian heartlands towards the Jerall Mountains and passages into Skyrim marked the beginning of a period of political strife, pitting the Legions loyal to the order and the Penitus Oculatus against the new regime and the resurgent Blades.

Outside of the Imperial province, tensions between High Rock continued to increase, with the campaign against the Forsworn regularly threatening to spill over the border and expand beyond the Reachmen, and friction with a staunchly independent Hammerfell threatened to return the Iliac Bay region to the political strife that preceded the so-called "Warp in the West". With the Aldmeri Dominion gearing up for war, the Emperor was unable to devote resources to a military conflict without leaving the Imperial City unguarded, and instead made the move in 4E 214 of sending what agents could be spared to Sentinel, aiming to achieve a reunification by diplomacy and subterfuge.

These actions were to...

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This is a freeform Elder Scrolls roleplay set in the aftermath of Skyrim, where a Dragon Break caused some seemingly contradictory (and game-impossible) outcomes to reshape the course of the Civil War and provide a path where the Stormcloaks have won their autonomy, yet remain in the Empire, and worship of the Nine Divines has been restored. The player characters are a collection of official agents, with a token Blade presence, and local adventurers based out of Sentinel. Nominally, reunification of the Empire is the goal, but as in Morrowind it is highly important to establish a cover identity before getting into the clandestine stuff.

The starting ability level/equipment is geared at around level 10, above the usual rank and file yet not at the point where charging a bandit camp or most Daedra is no longer a reckless move. The magic schools work like Morrowind, birthsigns are back, and yes magicka does regenerate without resting (it literally comes from the sun and stars, that's not a limited supply).

Character Sheet:

• Name:
• Race: Where racial powers have changed over time, pick any one game's version. Presumably, the races aren't as specific as games indicate.
• Sub-Race: For Khajiit. Delete otherwise.
• Gender:
• Appearance:
• Personality:
• Birthsign:
• Skills:
• Equipment:
• Brief History:

(If you're wondering about the S, look up Roman fractions)

Freeform Elder Scrolls RP

I'm not going to force people to write out skills specifically (nor drop back to Morrowind's highly specific armour and weapon categories), just give a general understanding.

Magic is definitely going back to its Morrowind categorisations, though, and armour would make it harder (in the more-magicka sense, not the random spell failure sense). And Birthsigns are back, because who didn't miss them?

Freeform Elder Scrolls RP

I personally prefer roleplays where the maximum power level of the player characters is equal to that of a semi-powerful NPC from the videogames, like Lydia or an Ordinator or Hieronymus Lex.

@Hank

I think that's probably a bit low a ceiling for TES, if you're capping things at "just about the level of a competent guard". If Jauffre or the Grey Fox or something isn't within reason, there's probably a few too many things that would just... blow you over. Unless I'm misunderstanding.

But without the major compression the games experience, it seems like it would be a bit... painful to have the maximum level of ability one that would make dealing with a bandit camp a life-threatening struggle?

---

Nevertheless, since both opinions given seem to be in favour of not reaching single-handedly reshaping continental politics, how does this sound for a plot hook/starting point:

• After the Dragon Break has resolved, the Empire has found itself pressured into accepting a Dragonborn emperor (details unforthcoming unless people specifically approach them, including what plots they specifically were involved in)
• Whilst their focus is on opposing the Aldmeri Dominion, they've got the reformed Blades working in High Rock to try and reestablish ties diplomatically/through bribing them with problem solving.
• The PC's are therefore a mix of official agents and local mercenaries.
• Rough starting equivalence would be level 10 or something--enough to get steel/non-rubbish tier equipment, and accomplishment in a skill or two, in plain terms.
• The level and equipment thing isn't exact. It's possible to have better or worse, but anything really noticeable is going to be a thread I will take far too much glee in using at some point. By which I mean: really expensive stuff or any lore item.

Much like Morrowind, this is a perfect excuse to run around establishing local cover, doing completely unrelated things, and totally ignoring the main quest until it's convenient.

Fate/ Transcendent Paradigm (A Fate/GO Based RP) — Take 2!

And for reference, if Nero knows who they are, once Saber and Ozy earn her vague approval, she's got titles for them! Legatus and Praefectus (Praefectus Aegypti at times) respectively. After all, when you're a former Emperor and they merely ruled over some of your provinces, it's only appropriate to refer to them with the appropriate titles for their station. I don't think any other Servant is going to get that sort of title, though. :p

Ignite Heart! A Magical Girl RP

Make that tomorrow. I don't think I'm going to be posting tonight.

Fate/ Transcendent Paradigm (A Fate/GO Based RP) — Take 2!

• Name: Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, proud owner of a stupidly long name.
• Class: Saber
• Appearance: Still just letting you see.
• Abilities:
  • Strength: D
  • Endurance: B
  • Agility: A
  • Mana: B
  • Luck: B
  • Noble Phantasm: -
• Class Skills:
  • Magic Resistance: C. Despite being a Saber, Nero boast a pitifully low magic resistance due to her own lack of interaction with the art.
• Personal Skills:
  • Divinity: A++ (D). With the family descent from Mars, and holding a direct descent back to the founding of the family tree through her mother, Nero holds a natural level of Divinity. However, through Imperial Privilege--and specifically the Imperial Cult, which holds the dead Emperors as deities and in places and parts held select Emperors as living gods, including Nero--she has achieved the highest possible level of Divinity. Not that this does terribly much, but it's good for her ego.
  • Imperial Privilege: EX. A function of Aestus Domus Aurea, Nero's insistence that a certain ability should be the providence of the Emperor can make this a reality for a period. Such insistence is the entire basis for her class, granting the Emperor a truly impressive grasp of swordsmanship for one that would never have needed to use it, and skills in the various fields of athletics the Romans entertained (including wrestling, even if you're a lion). Such insistence gives her a truly diverse skill set despite her lack of direct combat power, from Riding through to all aspects of leading, arranging, and planning a military campaign from the tactical to the strategic level. These skills also work on the less relevant civic level--legal matters, politics, architecture and city planning; the role of an Emperor is vast. Finally, Nero's belief in her own artistic talent can be fully vindicated through the expression of this skill, whether or not it is required.
    Only in two regards does this give Nero an ability that could be considered 'supernatural': augmenting the Divinity so attributed to the Emperor, and a link to the Emperor's role as Pontifex Maximus in the guise of casting and reading various auguries. Why would an Emperor possess some power not of this world, save for the gods' favour?
  • Migraine: B. The greatest limitation on Nero's exercise of her considerable talents is, of course, the frequent recurring migraines. At least her ability to swing a sword is undiminished.
  • Thrice-Setting Sun: A. Perhaps a true sign of the divinity of the Julio-Claudian Emperors, magnified further by the ascension to godhood (or at least being a Servant) is this seeming ability to defy death itself three times over, should it be prepared for, and even if not find time for a last speech long past the point of death, as Nero once did.
• Noble Phantasms:
  • Aestus Domus Aurea. Type: Reality Marble. The manifestation of the Emperor's unyielding belief in her own abilities and ego, even in the face of an uncooperative Senate, a coup, and even her own madness. It takes the form of the theatre that at once expresses the combination of her civic abilities in rebuilding from the fire, architectural skill, and a venue for her artistic ambitions. Passively, it grants her the ability to access skills she never learned or at a level superior to her life (see above) and justifies her position as the strongest class of Servant.
    Activated, the world created is a perfect venue for whatever the Emperor might desire--cooking or arts, gladiatorial combat or simply fighting. In the face of the Emperor's magnificence, enemies' statistics are ranked down, progressively getting more severe if the theatre is maintained for long enough, such that none may outshine the theatre's star. And of course, Nero herself is strengthened--the environment of her theatre is always going to match her desires, and within its confines the truly theatrical like a flaming sword and roses are all but guaranteed.
• Personality: There are several words that can be used to describe Nero's attitude, but inevitably it all comes round to the obvious: if there's anyone in the world that can possibly compete with her by ego alone, then it's the King of Heroes, followed shortly thereafter by the King of Conquerors. She assumes, from the start, that she is the greatest of artists, able to rival the very gods themselves, and that everything she does must be perfect. To that end, she puts a truly vast amount of passion into everything that she does--a passion that she expects to be reciprocated, even if her subjects cannot possibly match it or understand the art produced.
  Her driving desire, besides art, is beauty (and for some reason, competing with Heracles. Given that she's a short girl, wrestling a lion might be impressive but it's a long way off), and it doesn't matter if you're male or female to that end in getting her interest. Because of this, she has little direct interest in wealth or treasure--but the trappings of it greatly appeal to her interests.
  Despite her general attitude being upbeat, she's quite easily angered by criticising her art or refusing to experience it, believing that it is something to be admired and praised even if beyond your comprehension. On the flip side, flattering her is an easy way to get into Nero's good graces and manipulate her.

Fate/ Transcendent Paradigm (A Fate/GO Based RP) — Take 2!

All greek heroes are fair game. All beautiful things are fair game.

Nero's going to have a LOT of fun here.

Fate/ Transcendent Paradigm (A Fate/GO Based RP) — Take 2!

As I mentioned elsewhere to the GM, here's a pretty modified Nero (NP and statwise) Nero. I mean, it fixes one glaring omission in her skill list when you look at the other heroes even from the main timeline. And it fixes the shenanigans about something not being a Reality Marble despite being functionally identical and even high thaumaturgy...

---

• Name: Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, proud owner of a stupidly long name.
• Class: Saber
• Appearance: Still just letting you see.
• Abilities:
  • Strength: D
  • Endurance: B
  • Agility: A
  • Mana: B
  • Luck: B
  • Noble Phantasm: -
• Class Skills:
  • Magic Resistance: C. Despite being a Saber, Nero boast a pitifully low magic resistance due to her own lack of interaction with the art.
• Personal Skills:
  • Divinity: A++ (D). With the family descent from Mars, and holding a direct descent back to the founding of the family tree through her mother, Nero holds a natural level of Divinity. However, through Imperial Privilege--and specifically the Imperial Cult, which holds the dead Emperors as deities and in places and parts held select Emperors as living gods, including Nero--she has achieved the highest possible level of Divinity. Not that this does terribly much, but it's good for her ego.
  • Imperial Privilege: EX. A function of Aestus Domus Aurea, Nero's insistence that a certain ability should be the providence of the Emperor can make this a reality for a period. Such insistence is the entire basis for her class, granting the Emperor a truly impressive grasp of swordsmanship for one that would never have needed to use it, and skills in the various fields of athletics the Romans entertained (including wrestling, even if you're a lion). Such insistence gives her a truly diverse skill set despite her lack of direct combat power, from Riding through to all aspects of leading, arranging, and planning a military campaign from the tactical to the strategic level. These skills also work on the less relevant civic level--legal matters, politics, architecture and city planning; the role of an Emperor is vast. Finally, Nero's belief in her own artistic talent can be fully vindicated through the expression of this skill, whether or not it is required.
    Only in two regards does this give Nero an ability that could be considered 'supernatural': augmenting the Divinity so attributed to the Emperor, and a link to the Emperor's role as Pontifex Maximus in the guise of casting and reading various auguries. Why would an Emperor possess some power not of this world, save for the gods' favour?
  • Migraine: B. The greatest limitation on Nero's exercise of her considerable talents is, of course, the frequent recurring migraines. At least her ability to swing a sword is undiminished.
• Thrice-Setting Sun: A. Perhaps a true sign of the divinity of the Julio-Claudian Emperors, magnified further by the ascension to godhood (or at least being a Servant) is this seeming ability to defy death itself three times over, should it be prepared for, and even if not find time for a last speech long past the point of death, as Nero once did.
• Noble Phantasms:
  • Aestus Domus Aurea. Type: Reality Marble. The manifestation of the Emperor's unyielding belief in her own abilities and ego, even in the face of an uncooperative Senate, a coup, and even her own madness. It takes the form of the theatre that at once expresses the combination of her civic abilities in rebuilding from the fire, architectural skill, and a venue for her artistic ambitions. Passively, it grants her the ability to access skills she never learned or at a level superior to her life (see above) and justifies her position as the strongest class of Servant.
    Activated, the world created is a perfect venue for whatever the Emperor might desire--cooking or arts, gladiatorial combat or simply fighting. In the face of the Emperor's magnificence, enemies' statistics are ranked down, progressively getting more severe if the theatre is maintained for long enough, such that none may outshine the theatre's star. And of course, Nero herself is strengthened--the environment of her theatre is always going to match her desires, and within its confines the truly theatrical like a flaming sword and roses are all but guaranteed.
• Personality: There are several words that can be used to describe Nero's attitude, but inevitably it all comes round to the obvious: if there's anyone in the world that can possibly compete with her by ego alone, then it's the King of Heroes, followed shortly thereafter by the King of Conquerors. She assumes, from the start, that she is the greatest of artists, able to rival the very gods themselves, and that everything she does must be perfect. To that end, she puts a truly vast amount of passion into everything that she does--a passion that she expects to be reciprocated, even if her subjects cannot possibly match it or understand the art produced.
  Her driving desire, besides art, is beauty (and for some reason, competing with Heracles. Given that she's a short girl, wrestling a lion might be impressive but it's a long way off), and it doesn't matter if you're male or female to that end in getting her interest. Because of this, she has little direct interest in wealth or treasure--but the trappings of it greatly appeal to her interests.
  Despite her general attitude being upbeat, she's quite easily angered by criticising her art or refusing to experience it, believing that it is something to be admired and praised even if beyond your comprehension. On the flip side, flattering her is an easy way to get into Nero's good graces and manipulate her.

Ignite Heart! A Magical Girl RP

And I'll post when I'm not doing D&D elsewhere. :p

Freeform Elder Scrolls RP

Now that there's enough people showing interest, I'd like to ask again about the few points raised before I make the thread proper, especially large group vs small group. ^^;