The Elder Scrolls - Ashfall: Discussion Topic

[Padishah Mehmet II]

I wouldn't think they have a specific main HQ; back in Vvardenfell, they didn't have such a place, and operated without one. My presumption would be that a similar system exists on the mainland, with operatives contacting each other and cooperating with each other without a central main base, but favouring certain cornerclubs and such as meeting places.

-Dovydas

Edited June 2, 2015 by Albannach

[Perp]

K'Larn fully approved.

[(Daedalus)]

I wouldn't think they have a specific main HQ; back in Vvardenfell, they didn't have such a place, and operated without one. My presumption would be that a similar system exists on the mainland, with operatives contacting each other and cooperating with each other without a central main base, but favouring certain cornerclubs and such as meeting places.

-Dovydas

Got it. That makes sense.

[Nato G]

 

 

 

 

believe me (or believe you me)

phrase of believe

 

1. 1.

   used to emphasize the truth of a statement.

   "believe me, it is well worth the effort"

 

[IcarusBen]

It's a pet peeve of mine, alright? It's archaic and just doesn't work as a phrase. It should be "You, believe me." or just "Believe me."

[The UltimoScorp]

Still correct, though.

 

On that note, Nato, what's Anguis's deal?

[(Daedalus)]

What Chumpu said. Some people say "Believe you me," some people use "alright."

[Ghosthands]

It's a pet peeve of mine, alright? It's archaic and just doesn't work as a phrase. It should be "You, believe me." or just "Believe me."

Being archaic doesn't make it wrong, and I will contend that it does work as a phrase. As I had Kelh allude to, it's a marked imperative: it emphasises the instruction to believe.

 

"Don't you dare" uses the exact same piece of grammar--do you have a problem with that too?

 

Bottom line, you don't get to decide something is incorrect because you personally dislike it. If it was good enough for Shakespeare it should be good enough for you.

 

EDIT: Also, the examples Eponine gave are comparing apples to oranges. "I could care less" is wrong, because it says the exact opposite of what it intends to, and "thunk" is generally used ironically anyway.

Edited June 3, 2015 by Ghosthands

[IcarusBen]

 

It's a pet peeve of mine, alright? It's archaic and just doesn't work as a phrase. It should be "You, believe me." or just "Believe me."

Being archaic doesn't make it wrong, and I will contend that it does work as a phrase. As I had Kelh allude to, it's a marked imperative: it emphasises the instruction to believe.

 

"Don't you dare" uses the exact same piece of grammar--do you have a problem with that too?

 

Bottom line, you don't get to decide something is incorrect because you personally dislike it. If it was good enough for Shakespeare it should be good enough for you.

 

EDIT: Also, the examples Eponine gave are comparing apples to oranges. "I could care less" is wrong, because it says the exact opposite of what it intends to, and "thunk" is generally used ironically anyway.

 

Shakespeare lived hundreds of years ago. English was different then. Don't use him to justify bad English.

 

Also, "don't you dare" doesn't use the same grammar. While I'm unfamiliar with the name, "don't you dare" follows a structure of verb-subject-verb, whereas "believe you me" is verb-subject-direct object. It's like if I said "Cook you chicken." Is that right? No. No it's not.

Edited June 3, 2015 by IcarusBen

[shadow pridak money gang]

neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerds

 

-Tyler

[IcarusBen]

[shadow pridak money gang]

(^:

 

Seriously, guys, give it a break. I can't believe you guys give a about a pretty common saying that isn't grammatically correct (which, for the record, is like a sixth of pretty common sayings) enough to start using Shakespeare and image macros to put each other down

 

Ben, in the future, live and let live a little. Gabe, you should know better. Don't take this to a discussion topic where it doesn't belong. Nato, if you're going to start the fire, be subtle about it.

 

-Tyler

[IcarusBen]

I can't believe you guys give a ###### about a pretty common saying that isn't grammatically correct

 

a). Thanks for admitting it's grammatically incorrect, and b). we're on the internet. We're playing a game whose very existence is dependant upon language. Of course we give a hextuple-pound key.

[shadow pridak money gang]

...I never said it wasn't? I'm not in this argument. Stop trying to justify it and just back down when I ask you to.

 

-Tyler

[Ghosthands]

Apologies, Tyler. What I meant to convey was that in language, the line between correct and incorrect is rarely cut-and-dried. Sorry I got carried away.

[IcarusBen]

...I never said it wasn't? I'm not in this argument. Stop trying to justify it and just back down when I ask you to.

 

-Tyler

Sorry, bad wording coupled with me forgetting who I was talking to.

[Nato G]

Nato, if you're going to start the fire, be subtle about it.

 

My apologies. I legitimately thought Ben didn't realise it was a real phrase. 

 

On that note, Nato, what's Anguis's deal?

 

Which part, specifically? 

[The UltimoScorp]

Why's she so... I dunno closed up I guess.

 

(Unless it's in her bio and I completely missed it.)

[Nato G]

 

Personality: A misfit. She finds it difficult to fit in anywhere, or open herself up to others. She usually keeps to herself, roaming in search of adventure or purpose.

[The UltimoScorp]

Ah, yup. That would explain it.

 

Looks like I missed that bit when looking over her profile.

[Nato G]

She's hardly going to open up about all of her problems to a complete stranger, especially not an Argonian. 

[otter]

Name: Elías Jonnson Björkway

Age: 23

Appearance: Elías is only slightly taller than the average, and not by much at all. His hair is a rather dark brown colour, almost black, and he wears it at a medium-long length, going right to the end of his ears at the sides and dropping down almost into his eyes in the front, and it is relatively wavy; he also sports a full, but relatively close trimmed mustache and beard to go along with it.

 

His body is relatively thin and lean, and doesn't show very prominent musculature, although he's a good deal stronger than he looks. His eyes are a dark hazel colour, and slightly deep set under a heavy brow, and his nose is considered to be both longer and thicker at the base than the average, although compared to everything else in Elías's face it fits in rather well. Although not often seen due to his hair, Elías does maintain a small part of the elfish blood in his body, in that his ears are slender, and - ever so slightly - pointed in the back.

 

He primarily wears light coloured clothing, although the cloak he'll wear when it's cold is a dark blue.

Gender: Male.

Race: Mixed Breton and Nord.

Loyalties/Factions: Elías isn't really a part of a faction at the moment, although he does support House Redoran.

Abilities and Skills: Elías is an accomplished fighter, well able to protect himself if need be. As well, he is a Bard, and is an able singer (with a deep bass voice that seems at odds with his physique), storyteller, and lute player, and has perfect pitch. He can also cook (at least well enough to please himself, but he's relatively picky, so), is an accomplished hiker (what with that being his primary method of going around), can start a fire in all but the worst conditions, and can speak every language of man and mer in the Empire.

Magical Abilities: From the "Restoration" school:

• Power 1: Heal Self. Using his arcane abilities, Elías is able to heal himself of many injuries, though it gets progressibely more difficult the worse the injury, and even then he only prefers to use this when he doesn't have a healing potion handy.

Weapons: Elías's primary weapon is a large battleaxe, with a bearded axe head made of wrought iron, the edge being forged from hard steel, sandwiched into the end of the axe head and forge welded to it. It didn't actually start life as a battleaxe - it was originally a felling axe that was used by Elías's great-great grandfather - but after Great Grandpa had to fight in some small conflict or another, it was made the family's heirloom weapon, and good care has been taken to keep it perfectly useable.

 

Elías's next weapon is a sword he inherited from his maternal grandfather, Papa Björkway having no male progeny to whom he might pass on the weapon. The blade is elven-forged, a quite attactive looking broad, leaf-shaped blade of a seemingly bronzen metal, though the original hilt to it has been lost, and it has instead been set in a more human-designed hilt, with a crossguard large enough to protect Elías's hand rather well and a large, cocked-hat pommel.

 

The last weapon is a shield, made primarily out of wood, covered in leather, with a riveted steel ring around the outside and a large steel boss in the center. This, and the sword mentioned above, are primarily held in reserve, as backup weapons, in case Elías's battleaxe is unable to be used or just too large to be used.

Equipment: In terms of armour, Elías primarily has a mail hauberk, although with long enough sleeves to reach his wrists. The forearms of the sleeves are splinted with solid steel to provide more protection. The hauberk also drops long enough to protect his legs down to the knees. He also has leather guantlets with smaller plates of metal sewn onto them, a helmet to protect his precious skull, and a cuirass, for some extra protection for his vital organs.

 

One of the items he owns that is more important to him is his lute - it's not what Skyrim's bards normally call a lute but an actual lute, with eight pairs of strings, a deep bowl back, and strings and frets both made out of gut.

 

He has a large pack, and he normally keeps enough rations (bread, meat, cheese, waterskins) in it to last him at least to the next town he's travelling to, and generally a bit more than that. He also tries to keep at least one or two simple health potions in it, as well as a small tent and what is necessary to set it up, so that he has some portable shelter, and a flint and steel. He straps his lute in its case onto the top of the pack, and his shield he keeps slung on a hook on the back of the pack, making one large and relatively comfortable to wear unit, once Elías has it all set up properly. He keeps his sword sheathed at his side, attached to a baldric that he wears. And, lastly, while he generally keeps the head of his battleaxe sheathed, when he's walking to and from various towns (often he doesn't have a horse, because he's not possessed of much money to buy one and definitely doesn't have the money to rent one all the time), he often uses it as his walking stick. Besides, that's the easiest way to have it ready in case he has to defend himself. His luck has mostly held out, though, and he doesn't often have to use it.

Personality: Elías is a generally happy person, although he's rather reserved when just talking, unless he's with friends he had previously. However, he does greatly enjoy spreading news around the countryside and performing as well, and he'd rather do that than be holed up somewhere with nothing but books for company. He considers Skyrim to really be home, although he's been in Morrowind long enough that it might as well be home, and - while at the Bards College in Solitude he learned to speak in a rather proper manner - he considers himself one of the common folk, and will often talk like one of the common folk, no matter which language he's speaking. He's only fond of the Empire in how it managed to facilitate some trade at the beginning; beyond that, he dislikes it quite a bit.

Weaknesses: Elías's armour is the heaviest he would allow himself to have, and as such doesn't offer the highest protection he might be able to get for himself. As well, wearing his pack almost all the time as he does, if he gets in battle at an unexpected time, his movement can be slightly impaired and slow. Lastly, the weakness for which he decided to learn his healing spell, Elías is a moderate hæmophiliac. His blood doesn't clot anywhere nearly as well as the normal person's, and even minor wounds can be left bleeding for lengthy periods of time. He isn't, however, prone to random bleeds, though sometimes these may occur.

Biography: Born in Skyrim, to one parent of Nordic heritage and the other of Breton, Elías has always been treated - if not outright badly - different from the others on account of his mixed parentage, although it's been rather rare that he was ever treated badly. His parents' families lived relatively close to each other, his mother's (which had only recently moved to Skyrim from High Rock) having been cityfolk, and his father's (the native Nords) having been farming folk. It was his mother's side of the family that pushed him to be a bard, although his father's side still supported the decision; ultimately he ended up making his way to the Bards College in Solitude, with an instrument he inherited from his mother's side of the family, as well as an axe and sword he had inherited, and a shield his father had made for him. After finishing his training in the Bards College, Elías actually decided to travel to the East one province, placing himself in what seemed to be the home of the most news happening in the land - Morrowind, where he still remains today. In fact, although he might call Skyrim home, he's stayed long enough in Morrowind observing the various happenings and spreading news around the various cities that quite a few people who know him mainly just say he's in denial about where his home actually is. 

 

Edited June 4, 2015 by Grochi of Potoos

[Padishah Mehmet II]

Elías approved x1

 

Also, archaic or not, "believe you me" is correct and that's the end of it

 

Worst case scenario I could be using Irish English and any attempt to crack down on that is literally imperialism with a dash of potato famine

-Dovydas

Edited June 4, 2015 by Albannach

[shadow pridak money gang]

Knowing every language of man and mer in Tamriel is heavily unrealistic.

 

-Tyler

[The UltimoScorp]

Elias approved x2

[IcarusBen]

Actually, if we're just counting the men and mer that are part of the Empire (or were part of it) then we'd only have Aldmeris, whatever Bosmer speak, Dunmeris, Tamrielic, maybe Nordic. It's possible to know five languages.

[The UltimoScorp]

North America is made up of three countries. It's fairly uncommon to be able to speak each of the three languages fluently.

 

Possible, of course, but not common.

[IcarusBen]

Of course, Elias is a bard. From what I know of bards, it's not uncommon for them to be polyglots.

 

EDIT: Actually, if we look closely at the wording, Elias can only speak Tamrielic and Nordic, because no Elven province is a part of the Empire anymore, though I assume most everyone in the RP knows Dunmeris.

Edited June 4, 2015 by IcarusBen

[otter]

North America is made up of three countries. It's fairly uncommon to be able to speak each of the three languages fluently.

 

Possible, of course, but not common.

 

Easily possible among those who decide to learn. Besides, I didn't say he's going to be ridiculously fluent. Fluent enough to communicate rather well, but he's not going to be considered the best spoken out of any language other than his native. Tamrielic is a given, Nordic (if that is it's own language, I don't particularly remember), Dunmeris (which is definitely a given, considering the RPG), Altmeris could be considered realistic because Tamrielic is essentially descended from it (again, based on my memory, but UESP corroborates), and possibly Bosmeris as well. I'm not planning on him using the Orcish language, the Dragon language, or that of the Khajit or the Argonians. And I'd argue that it'd even be something necessary for him to know those few languages up there (with Tamrielic, Nordic, and Dunmeris really being the only givens) so that he'd be able to communicate well enough with the common folk wherever he went, in case they didn't know Tamrielic.

 

Of course, he's also gotten his two approvals and so I feel that going over this might be a bit of a moot point anyways. Unless it was more than two he had to have. Thought it was only two, though.

[The UltimoScorp]

Knowing enough of a language to get by in all of tam riel seems fine.

[IcarusBen]

Okay, double checked, the Nords speak Tamrielic. That means he might only have to know Tamrielic, Dunmeris and maybe Aldmeris.

[otter]

A lot of them do, but from my reading on UESP Nordic is (on there) actually still treated as being its own language that's still (somewhat) in use. So I'll still include it.

 

Considering that the language tree shows Nordic and Aldmeris both going into Tamrielic, anyways, and Altmeris is still spoken...yeah, I'll just go with that idea.

Edited June 4, 2015 by Grochi of Potoos

[IcarusBen]

I don't think Nordic is in use or was even canon. The link redirects to the Nord page and there's nothing there about the Nordic language. I was mistaken.

[otter]

I'll just sit here, give you two thumbs up for effort, and continue to leave things the way they are with my character. Agreeable?

 

The only answer is yes, by the way.

 

EDIT: Of course, if you look on UESP, and then use that language tree thing they have and click on the names of the languages? It just takes you back to the different races, and barely mentions anything about their language - or even says anything at all if you're lucky - for all of them. Heck, all it says for the Altmer is that Tamrielic is descended from Altmeris. Which is descended from Aldmeris - which is only mentioned as being "the language of the Aldmer and the name of their homeland" - which in turn apparently comes from old Ehlnofex.

Edited June 4, 2015 by Grochi of Potoos

[IcarusBen]

I'll just sit here, give you two thumbs up for effort, and continue to leave things the way they are with my character. Agreeable?

 

The only answer is yes, by the way.

 

EDIT: Of course, if you look on UESP, and then use that language tree thing they have and click on the names of the languages? It just takes you back to the different races, and barely mentions anything about their language - or even says anything at all if you're lucky - for all of them. Heck, all it says for the Altmer is that Tamrielic is descended from Altmeris. Which is descended from Aldmeris - which is only mentioned as being "the language of the Aldmer and the name of their homeland" - which in turn apparently comes from old Ehlnofex.

 

Also, yeah, there should be a group of people working on writing articles for the different languages.

 

Until then, I'll just assume your character's speaking Tamrielic or Dunmeris, unless specified otherwise.

Edited June 5, 2015 by IcarusBen

[otter]

That's basically the only thing any of us are going to be doing, because it doesn't make sense to use other languages in this RPG anyways.

 

The whole point of that in Elías's profile is primarily just fluff/something else to reflect the fact that he went to the Bard's College.

[Not Quite Dead]

I thought it was some sort of self insert / idealized self deal.

[Nato G]

What could have possibly given you that impression?

[Padishah Mehmet II]

You guys actually touched on an interesting point regarding Nordic: it's certainly a separate language, as indicated by several words we know of, such as "thu'um" (which apparently isn't Draconic, no) but it's honestly unclear how much of it is still used.

 

My guess would be there's a situation as with modern Irish, where some basic knowledge of it is widespread among Skyrim's inhabitants, but few speak it in their everyday lives. Honestly, the only languages that seem to be completely healthy and unendangered seem to be the elven languages (excepting obviously dead cases such as Dwemeris or Ayleidoon), Ta'agra, Jel and Tamrielic; and maybe Orcish, but since that has such limited use (few people outside those tightly-knit communities of Orsinium and the outlying Orcish strongholds actually understand it) it's probably in a similar situation to Nordic, or maybe even like medieval Yiddish - spoken as a first tongue by nearly all Orcs, but alongside the language of wherever they live.

-Dovydas

Edited June 5, 2015 by Albannach

[Perp]

heyo I think it's about time for me to post some profiles don't ya think

Name: Rilaria Brenwyn

 

Age: 244
 

Appearance: The dust and ash of the wastes have taken their toll on Rilaria as they have nearly all others born of Morrowind. Strife and struggle in the post-Red-Year province has only served to accentuate her aging features - her dark skin bears creases where it was once smooth and her cheeks are pockmarked and scorched from months of constant travel. Her black hair now bears streaks of grey, but her smile is still young.

 

Gender: Female

 

Race: Dunmer

 

Loyalties/Faction(s): Loyalty to herself, Blister, and the common traveller. 
 

Abilities and Skills: Knows her way around Morrowind pretty darn well. After all, she's been there quite a while, nestled in the shell of a silt-strider. Knows a little magic, but not much. She's more fond of diplomacy than she is of combat.

 

Magical Abilities:
      Power 1: Levitation
      Power 2: n/a

 

Weapons: An old chitin shield - an heirloom passed from generation to generation. Patterns of the moon and stars are carved into its face. One side of the shield has been sharpened slightly, but it would barely count as a weapon. Other than that, she carries a small steel utility knife, but doesn't intend to harm anyone with it.

 

Equipment: Rucksack, fishing pole, provisions.

 

Personality: Rilaria loves stories. The journey across Morrowind aboard a silt strider can be a long one, and to those being ferried, Rilaria sees no better way to pass the time then relating stories from her life. Reactions to this often depend on the passenger, but she's not too concerned with who appreciates a good story and who doesn't. She's warm and open to those whom she encounters, most likely spurring from her age. In recent times, she's grown bored with the ramblings of her own kin, often preferring the company of Outlanders to other Dunmer who prattle on about the politics of their homeland.

 

Weakness(es): Her distaste of fighting; her general carelessness about anything outside of herself, Blister, and those she journeys with; a certain over-fondness of mazte on a cold day; a persistent cough, getting worse - no doubt from inhalation of ash. 

 

Biography: In her youth, Rilaria lived on Vvardenfell, often accompanying her father as he ferried locals to and fro about the island on his silt strider, Blister. After his passing, care of Blister fell to the hands of Rilaria, and she continued her father's ferry service. Having barely survived Red Mountain's eruption years later and narrowly avoiding the effects of the Accession War, Rilaria and Bilster roam across the mainland of Morrowind, getting by however they can and ferrying those in need in such depressing times.
 

 

Like about four more coming later