OOC The Corrupted Guardian

Fellow RPers, READY THE WELCOME BACK PARTY

Thanks for the warm welcome, Gidian.

I'll do my best to catch up on what's transpired since my departure. I'll need to work with you on a one sided convo between Maere and Skadi/Spero.

NP man Go ahead and start a conversation. You didn't miss much, luckily or sadly, whichever

Found a picture that looks extremely close to how Skadi is supposed to in build, facial structure, and hair style. Basically this s almost exactly like her, just Skadi has deep blue eyes and black hair. Also no angel wings.

Are you sure about the wing thing? I mean, she could have them tucked in or something but when she gets in real trouble BAM! She flies away.

Don't you lie to us Gidian.
She doesn't talk much because they're stuffed in her mouth. Also, she was counting the feathers she's swallowed.

LMAO. If you guys really want her to have wings, I could arrange it Just sayin'

Seriously though I am playing a delicate balancing game with her having the mind that she does. I have to be extremely careful that she doesn't become a dues ex machina or whatever the term is.

Okay, I have decided to start listing some of the happenings around the world that your characters may or may not know about. While I am doing so, I advice you to take care of whatever you need to in the jail thing. Any sidestories you want to explore, anything. I trust you with complete creative license. There is only one guard, an Elite Guard, guarding the entire cell block. I heavily advice you do not mess with him, as the Elite Guards are Elite for a VERY good reason. He isn't really doing much "guarding" though, and some of the inmates just ignore him. The only real purpose he is there is to make sure no one injures someone else too badly to where they can no longer fight, or kill each other. He is even friendly with some of the prisoners. This particular Elite Guard is not the same guard as the one that tortured Garret, as can be told by subtle differences in the decoration and rankings of the armor (think RL military markings/pins). This particular guard is not so bad, as a matter of fact after talking to him and getting to know him he might even seem like a nice guy. Currently, he has his helmet off and is arm wrestling with some of the other inmates for anything they feel like betting. You note that he never loses, but people keep coming to challenge him anyways.

I have not really put much thought into his appearance.

So, someone call the floor, as I dont want multiple posts at once that contradict each other.

We should just have them all meet in the same cell once again IMO

You guys discuss it. I will back it up and have Skadi and Gidian play their parts if needed.

Okay, first off, the Emperor started off enormously efficient and popular, though he got into frequent clashes (limited to the political table, as far as any normal people would know) with the Counsel. He seemed to be putting the Empire back together and preparing quite well, considering teh circumstances (it was not perfect and he didnt magically and/or single handedly bring back the Empire and solve all problems, he was just fairly successful and a very good Emperor that most people liked).

While certainly intelligent, however, quite a bit of his success came from wonderful support. He had a very well off noble family and tight connections backing him, including his wife. (she is obviously where Skadi gets her super brain). He also had two brothers, though by present time in the RP they have faded into relative obscurity. Fortis, an amazing and steadfast commander, and Talio who serves as an excellent adviser and bodyguard and balanced the Emperor quite well. (note that Talio was content and Fortis was diehard loyal, as to why they did not try to do the typical pretender to the throne stuff)

It is also worth noting that around this time, daedric and aedric influence began to slowly recede. Their power and influence (either directly or indirectly through followers) began to slowly disappear. It was too slow for anyone to notice or detect at first, but it became very clear when important figures and powers in their religions and cults began to seemingly disappear. (Think like Champion of Boethia suddenly disappears without a trace one night, or your magic or something that is related to your deity suddenly becomes weaker and weaker until it stops). This isn't of particularly notable effects now, but it will be later.

Now, certain important individuals begin to meet untimely ends in several parts of the world. These deaths seem rather random in their targeting, and usually it is a very clear case of assassination. Some on the emperor's side, some on the counsel's side, some on the Dominion's side, EVERYWHERE. Only someone very perceptive would be able to put anything resembling a pattern together here. There was not really much of a gradual buildup to it either, it was literally seemingly random. Though these individuals were typically important to whatever cause or affiliation they represented or came from. This came to a head when the High king/queen whatever of the Dominion is assassinated, leaving their daughter behind to pick up the pieces. The degree of success to this is unknown, but very many subtle changes took place. The dominion immediately blamed and retaliated against the Empire.

This is interesting because around this time, the Emperor's seemingly perfect family and setup kinda falls apart. The Emperor, his brothers, and a large retinue were not in the Imperial City when the whole thing went down. It is not clear to most people what happened exactly, but the Empress was killed, and her two daughters in hiding, probably somewhere in the palace.

And this is where things get interesting... well more interesting. Daedric and Aedric influence is almost completely gone. The dragons have practically disappeared without a trace, along with the dragonborn and the Greybeards. The Night Mother is silent, and so are much of the Dark Brotherhood. The parts of the thieves guild closely connected with their daedric patron the same. The circle, connected to Hircine, no exception. And so on. Shrines no longer give blessings, if that mechanic was ever implemented into RPing to begin with.

The Emperor and his retinue by this point has returned, and this where his brothers kind of fade into obscurity. Also, a general decline in the empire and quality of life that had been progressing over everything was now about to get worse. The Arena is finished, the Emperor's tactics become more evident, efficient, and merciless. The Empire and general quality of life continue on their downward spiral. He locks horns with the Counsel behind the scenes like never before. The Dominion's position is unclear at best, but there are no more evident attacks from them. They seem to have retreated to their own, but are no doubt ready to strike back at the slightest sign of weakness. This has more or less kept the Emperor in his palace and city.

A "curse" has fallen over much of Tamriel. It is becoming increasingly difficult to have children (people seeming to become less fertile). Much of the blame for it rests on the shoulders of Skadi and her older sister, as one of the few communications made between the daedra and aedra to the general people was twisted to indirectly (or directly) incriminate them both. The potency of this "curse" (if it even is) varies. Some people arr fine, others aren't. Some people are somewhere in between on the scale. The Emperor and most of the royal family seem to be infertile, making the Emperor even more desperate for an heir.

The people are kinda desperate for strong leadership at this point, which aids the Emperor in maintaining his high ground and even furthering it. He does not seem to even be aware of his two daughter's existence, and Talio is nothing more than a fading memory and a fading name, the only occasionally can be heard echoed in the arena.

Hence, "Arena Champion Talio". His reputation is more than likely common knowledge. He fights more like a monster than a man, undefeated, yadda yadda yadda. It is worth noting that Skadi is not aware of most of the family history.

I am also not sure how much of this would work on a timeline.

The Civil War in Skyrim is still going strong with no signs of stopping. I may have forgotten some details, and have yet to think of others, but tht should be enough to get the jist of it. Just be try to keep it where your character ONLY KNOWS things that they would know out of all that.

I will probably have to revise the date for some time after the events of Skyrim, or possibly have the Medes' assassinations come sooner.

REFRESH TO FIX TYPOS, PLEASE

Just wanted to get that written down somewhere.

Who is going to take the floor?

Or are you guys content to get this moved on?

We will be going to the mess hall/cafeteria/eating place next, FYI. I don't know if any of your characters would know about it or not, or possibly hear about it from someone.

Words cannot describe how much I love his picture.

Those words just did