The Elder Scrolls (abbreviated as TES) is a role-playing video game series developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks.
The Elder Scrolls games can be safely categorized as role-playing games, although they do include elements taken from action and adventure games. In Arena, as in many RPGs, players advance by killing monsters (and thereby gaining experience points) until a preset value is met, whereupon they level-up. However, in Daggerfall, Morrowind, and Oblivion, the series took a skill-based approach to character advancement. Players develop their characters' skills by applying them, and only level-up when a certain set of skills have been developed. The flexibility of the games' engines has facilitated the release of game extensions (or mods) through The Elder Scrolls Construction Set.
The world of the Elder Scrolls is known for its attention to detail, attempted realism, and the vast number of names, dates, and places that constitute its history and the interconnected structure of its various societies, cultures, and religions. There is no one compilation of all information pertaining to the Elder Scrolls world, and, within the games, historical references are often vague or unclear. Players are encouraged to draw their own conclusions about situations and events for which the records are sparse, contradictory, or incomplete.
A few new tidbits of information on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim have sneaked out of Bethesda HQ, including news that the game contains 60,000 lines of voiced dialogue.
According to PC Gamer, the long-awaited RPG sequel will feature unlimited dragons that can attack at random as you explore the game world.
Wounded dragons will apparently be unable to fly, offering an opportunity to engage them on the ground, potentially giving you the upper hand.
Slaying dragons earns you special abilities called dragon shouts. A few examples offered include power-ups that give you fire breath, a lightning strike, the ability to slow down time or a speed boost.
The game's guard system is reportedly getting an overhaul. In contrast to previous games in the series, if you commit a crime in one region guards in a neighbouring area won't automatically be aware of it and collar you on sight.
Bethesda has also confirmed that horses will feature in the game, with improved handling promised over Oblivion. You'll also be able to hop in a carriage for speedy travel between regions or automatically skip to places you've already discovered.
Oblivion's Dark Brotherhood assassin's guild return, along with a thieves guild, a fighter's guild and a mage's guild.
Finally, Bethesda has promised a much larger voice cast has been signed up to deliver that whopping script than worked on Oblivion.
Daggerfall Intro (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niU1bRqxrIU#)
A Report Compiled By Ulvius Tero, Blades Archivist
Secret: For Your Eyes Only
Let me offer my congratulations to Your Lordship for your recent appointment as ambassador to the Court of Wayrest.
Your Lordship asked me for a review of existing Blades accounts from 3E 417 concerning 'The Warp in the West', and for a summary of the current state of affairs there.
Since Your Lordship was in Black Marsh serving in the staff of Admiral Sosorius at the time, you probably know of these events only from Imperial proclamations and Chapel declarations, which identify this period as the 'Miracle of Peace'. During the 'Miracle of Peace', according to official accounts, the formerly war-wracked Iliac Bay region was transformed overnight from a patchwork of squabbling duchies and petty kingdoms into the peaceful modern counties of Hammerfell, Sentinel, Wayrest, and Orsinium. The 'Miracle of Peace', also known as the 'The Warp in the West', is celebrated as the product of the miraculous interventions of Stendarr, Mara, and Akatosh to transform this troublesome region into peaceful, well-governed Imperial counties. The catastrophic destruction of landscape and property and the large loss of life attending upon this miracle is understood to have been 'tragic, and beyond mortal comprehension.'
In as much as this account confirms and validates the current borders of these counties, and identifies the rulers and boundaries of these counties as 'ordained by the Nine', the 'Miracle of Peace' serves Imperial objectives of peaceful consolidation of ancient petty states and sovereigns into manageable Imperial jurisdictions. The other remarkable features of these events -- mass disappearances, armies mysteriously transported hundreds of miles or completely annihilated, titanic storms and celestial phenomena, apparent local discontinuities of time -- fit comfortably into the notion that these events are part of a vast, mysterious divine intervention.
However, this is only the public account of these events, and, as you may suspect, it conflicts with many other accounts. In short, while this explanation suits Imperial policy, it has little historical validity.
Your Lordship should know that the Blades have concluded there is no plausible historical account of these events, and despairs that a plausible historical account shall ever be produced. The Blades have concluded that a 'miracle' occurred, insofar as the events are inexplicable, but the Blades strongly doubt the miracle was of divine origin.
There is good reason to believe that the ruling families of the four modern Iliac Bay counties had forewarning of the event. There is also some evidence that some of these ruling families may have been directly or indirectly responsible for the event. We do not know the exact sequence of actions that produced the event, although we are confident that the 'Totem' artifact was involved, and that a Blades agent was involved in employing that artifact. We unfortunately lost contact with that agent immediately after the event; his report might have gone some way to resolving the contradictory and paradoxical accounts of the event.
The Blades have on file few reports from agents dating from the "Warp in the West" period. Most of our agents were lost in the initial dislocations, and others were lost in the confusion after the event. I present a few of these reports to give you a general sense of their limitations, including the report of your diplomatic predecessor, Lord Strale. You will have had access to other private and rumored accounts of the period. I believe you will agree that these documents raise more questions than they answer.
The Report of Hammerfell Agent 'Briarbird'
'I was on assignment in the Alik'r Desert, a few miles south of Bergama on the 9th of Frostfall. I was encamped, as it was still early morning, when I felt the ground shake so violently, I was thrown to the ground. Dazed, I was aware of a great roar of a sandstorm, which alarmed me, as I had been on a high dune and had seen nothing like that on the horizon. It was on me before I was even on my knees, burying me and my camp.
When I crawled my way out of the sand, I realized that I must make haste and get to Bergama as soon as possible, as all my food and water had been swept away. The sun was just rising as I began, like I said. When I reached Bergama, it was nightfall. The town was in chaos, filled with the soldiers of Sentinel. The Lord of Bergama's fortress was in ruins.
There had been an attack, but no one had seen it, only the invasion that followed it. The soldiers of Queen Akorithi of Sentinel refused to be interviewed about how they had accomplished this sneak attack, but I came to learn that the whole of northern Hammerfell now belonged to them. Even stranger, I discovered that my walk from sunrise to sundown had not taken me not one day, but two. It was now the 11th day of the month, not the 10th. I had lost a day somewhere, and so apparently had everyone else... except Akorithi's soldiers, who somehow were aware of the correct date.
I since have concluded that they had received advance warning, and so were better prepared to deal with the strange confusion of time and dates associated with the Warp.'
The Report of High Rock Agent 'Graylady'
'I was, at the time of the Warp, undercover as a witch in the Skeffington Coven of Phyrgias, in central High Rock. In order to give my report, I had volunteered for an expedition to gather supplies, which would allow me the freedom to reach my contact in Camlorn. I was traveling north-east along the foothills of the Wrothgarian Mountains, on the 9th of Frostfall, when I felt a great heat behind me, like a fire. I turned, but I regret to say I cannot tell you what I saw. The healers tell me my eyes were burned out of my sockets.
I think I must have fallen into a state of semi-consciousness, for I distinctly remember falling as the ground seemed to give way beneath me. Then there was a series of explosions in the distance, to the south, and I heard high whistling noises that were getting louder, coming closer. I had my shield with me, and fortunately anticipated that volleys of some sort were falling from the sky. Though I could not see them, I could hear them coming from a distance away, and was able to use my shield to block them from striking me.
The assault stopped suddenly, and I could smell smoke. I learned later that most of the forest of Ykalon and Phygias had caught fire, in an inferno that started further south in Daenia and the Ilessan Hills. Fortunately, I kept my bearings, and moved north, finally reaching a temple in the wilderness where my wounds were healed, as well as they could be.
It was there I learned that there had been a three-way clash between Daggerfall, Wayrest, and Orsinium not far from where I had been, and that the land midway between their kingdoms had been decimated.'
The Report of Ambassador Lord Naigon Strale
'His Imperial Majesty had sent me on a delicate errand, the details of which I cannot convey in this unsecure report, but my official capacity was to be the Emperor's ambassador to the court of Wayrest. From there, I was to meet with an old friend, Lady Brisienna, who was already in the vicinity. Forgoing any attempt at stealth, I was on an Imperial barge, sailing westward on the Bjoulsae, the morning of the 9th of Frostfall. I remember it was a slightly chilly day, but the sky was very blue.
'We had just passed the delightful riverside village of Candlemass when the captain sounded the alarum. There, in front of us, was a colossal wall of water, at least thirty feet high. It smashed our barge to splinters before any of us had a chance to react. I woke up on the shore, having been rescued by one of my servants who had miraculously not lost consciousness. He and I and one other man were the only survivors.
I thought at first that it was suspiciously similar to what happened to another agent of ours in High Rock but a short time before, where a freak storm had shipwrecked him in the Iliac Bay near Privateer's Hold. Furious and determined to see if similar forces were at work, I began a quick march to Wayrest.
The march, however, was not so terribly quick. The villages all along the Bjoulsae were on fire, and battles raged between the orcs of Orsinium and the soldiers of King Eadwyre in the formerly independent principality of Gauvadon, just east of Wayrest. I am an accomplished mage, and quite able to defend myself, but it took the better part of a week to make it those few miles to Wayrest.
King Eadwyre and his queen Barenziah were celebrating their great victories when I arrived. By then, I had gathered the barest facts of the matter, that simultaneously there were seven great battles in the Iliac Bay, and no one could describe them at all, only their bloodsoaked aftermath.
To summarize: on the 9th of Frostfall, there had been forty-four independent kingdoms, counties, baronies, and dukedoms surrounding the Iliac Bay, if one includes the unconquered territories of the Wrothgarian Mountains, the Dragontail Mountains, the High Rock Sea Coast, the Isle of Balfiera, and the Alik'r Desert. On the 11th of Frostfall, there were but four - Daggerfall, Sentinel, Wayrest, and Orsinium - and all the points where they met lay in ruins, as the armies continued to do battle.
I was determined to find the truth from the King, even if I had to be a most undiplomatic diplomat to do it.
Eadwyre, though a generally jovial sort, had blustered, saying he did not want to give out military secrets. The Queen, ever calm with those unreadable red eyes of hers, told me, 'We do not know.'
I think it is safe to assume that Barenziah did not tell me everything, but the facts of her story - which I later verified after pointed interviews in Daggerfall, Sentinel, and Orsinium - was that they had learned that a certain powerful, ancient weapon was going to be activated. I shan't give the name of it here. Out of fear that it would be used against Wayrest, the King had attempted to buy it from the young adventurer who had discovered its wherebouts. Eadwyre believed, as it turns out quite rightly, that other powers in the Bay had also attempted to win ownership of this device.
What happened then, as Barenziah said, 'We do not know.'
The morning of the 9th and the morning of the 11th somehow merged through some sort of Warp in the West, and Wayrest found themselves at war. Their land had expanded three-fold, but they were under attack by Daggerfall to the west, Orsinium to the east, and Sentinel to the south. There had been no time to understand what had happened, the King said. They had simply reacted, sending their armies to defend their lands against these enemies whose kingdoms had also gained great territorial advantage.
The battles continue on, now months later, as I return to the Imperial City to make my report. What more do I have to say? They are bloody, violent clashes, as is always the case with modern warfare, but I have been to the blackened, desolate no-man's land between the four remaining kingdoms. No mortal army caused that devastation.
I can say that the force that shook the Iliac Bay on the 10th of Frostfall 3E 417 was infinitesimally greater than the power these mighty kingdoms are wielding today.
I can say that there were other strange events on that day which kept the kingdoms from breaking free of the Empire, and accomplished likely more besides.
And I can say there is nothing left of it - this power, this weapon - in the Bay. The Warp that it created swallowed it up.'
Current Political Affairs in the Iliac Bay
Almost twenty years have passed, and the region, though transformed, has stabilized. There are no more disputed territories, and the kingdoms of Daggerfall, Wayrest, Sentinel, and Orsinium hold their new borders in relative peace.
Wayrest spreads across the eastern coast of the Bay, stretching from the land formerly called Anticlere to half of Gauvadon. Eadwyre has passed on to his ancestors, leaving his kingdom in the hands of his daughter, Elysana, who has two children by her royal consort, and seems likely to hold her father's lands. Your Lordship may also choose to communicate directly with King Helseth and Queen Barenziah in Mournhold. Their primary preoccupations are, of course, with Morrowind's affairs, but they may still have useful observations upon Wayrest's ruling families and political environment that may aid you in your understanding of the court of Queen Elysana.
King Gortwog of Orsinium controls much of the Wrothgarian Mountains as well as the profitable rivercoast of the Bjoulsae. He persists in his demands that Orsinium be recognized as an Imperial province separate from High Rock. The Elder Council treats Gortwog as a recognized king, and collects taxes directly from Orsinium, but officially Orsinium remains a county of High Rock, though technically it spans both the provinces of High Rock and Hammerfell.
Sentinel has gained the most land, sprawling across the entire southern Iliac Bay from Abibon-Gora, beyond the Dragontail Mountains, to the edge of Mournoth, Orsinium's territory. Queen Akorithi at her death left her enormous kingdom to her only surviving son, Lhotun, who is now surely one of the most powerful kings in Tamriel.
Daggerfall is still ruled by the Breton King Gothryd and the Redguard Queen Aubk-I. Their land now encompasses all of western High Rock, from the border they share with Wayrest at Anticlere to the east, to Ykalon to the north. They have four children now, and are much beloved in their realm.
If there are other repercussions of the mysterious Warp in the West, they have not yet come to our attention in the course of twenty years of observation.
Details of a predictably lavish Collector's Edition of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim have just been issued by publisher Bethesda.
Priced at a wallet-busting £129.99, the set includes the following swag on top of the rabidly-anticipated RPG sequel itself:
Alduin Statue - Created in conjunction with the IP Factory, this collector's only statue stands 12" tall and is made of high quality PVC. Modeled from actual in-game 3D digital files, it showcases Alduin, the World Eater. He stands perched atop one the game's many dragon walls that teach the player the lethal language of dragons.
'The Art of Skyrim' Official Art Book - Featuring over 200 pages of striking, full-color illustrations, sketches and models, this stunning 9 3/8" x 12 1/8" coffee table book showcases the characters, creatures, environments, and weaponry of Skyrim. With a foreword by game director Todd Howard and commentary from Bethesda Game Studios artists, readers will be guided through the game's iconic visual style.
'The Making of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim' DVD - This documentary DVD contains exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage, including interviews with the Bethesda Game Studios team as they take you from concept to creation and provide insights into the story, gameplay, setting, legacy of the Elder Scrolls franchise, and much more.
It's available for pre-order now, ahead of the game's 11th November release date.
"We always say that we make the games we want to play. We can also say we create the collector's editions we'd want to own," commented Bethesda marketing VP Pete Hines. "We all want one of these!"
You're not going to see me pay £129.99 for that.
So I did some of the story, got my first shout, did the first voice training on top of the moutain, killed my first random fly-by dragon. :)
On the other end, I went into a random lighthouse and found a dead body which started a side-quest to find the culprit under the cellar... Maybe I was under-leveled for it, it was all fun cos I died a lot in there.
But it also made me run into a bug. The dungeon had a few cliffs halfway that made it impossible to go backwards once you dropped down.
My follower dropped down the first one but didn't drop down the second one whatever I tried. After ~20mins of failed budging, I used the shout to slowly nudge the follower over the edge. YAY! but there was another ledge at the end... :banghead: another 20mins later, i got her over. Pretty big downer for what was a cool dungeon romp.
Really, save a lot. Don't regret.
So I'm now continuing on the voice quest and going top-left of the map.
http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/20111116 (http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/20111116)
(http://v.cdn.cad-comic.com/comics/cad-20111116-83046.png)
Went to a local GameStop and found they had the strategy guide
(http://i.imgur.com/In7Rrl.jpg)
HOLY CRAP THIS THING IS MASSIVE
(http://i.imgur.com/HWa5Ll.jpg)
(seriously, there's about 7 active side quests and I'm scared to look at how many I have under Miscellaneous)
I fought and killed my first dragon last night so that was awesome. Course, the first power you get is the shout that pushes things away from you. I put it to great effect when I was back in the Jarl's court. For shits and giggles I made a save and went to the banqueting tables. All those neatly placed ornaments, the rich food and accessories? After I shouted at it, all that shit is either on the floor or splattered against the wall :lol:
Went for another quest last night into a bandit camp and had some great moments. Was able to sneak up on the first guy I saw all quiet like and got the animation for a stealth kill. Slit that guys throat and left him for dead. Had a greater deal of difficulty dealing with the bandit leader who I was meant to kill. Not only did he have an enchanted greatsword that hurt a lot, he had two bodyguards with him, one of which an annoying mage and found it hard to deal with all three of them together. I learned though that the two bodyguards were conversing underneath a suspicious looking lamp and standing in what appeared to be oil. So I tried loosing an arrow at the lamp and sure enough, it dropped to the ground and set the pair of them aflame. The captain was dumb enough to run through the flames towards me so that helped out a lot by starting off the fight with the advantage. Made it in the end.
But that raid has put me in an immediate problem with encumbrance. I've got quite a few enchanted weapons on me I want to keep and I keep sets of light and heavy armor cause I can't quite decide which set I prefer to use. And while a house is offered to me, I can't afford it. I'm confident enough to drop something in the world and expect it to be there when I return but still...I'd much prefer a permanent residency to store my stuff and a room at the inn in Whiterun isn't enough for me I think. So that's my main short term goal, earn 5000G for a house!
I want to do more quests for the Companions but a friend of mine on Facebook spoiled something that can happen and I don't know if I want that. For those interested, by completing quests for them at somepoint *SPOILERS* you will have the ability to turn into a werewolf. Sounds cool, but I dunno, I remember doing that had some big drawbacks in Morrowind that I don't want to have. Besides I don't see my character being that type of guy. I'd rather he be a 'Pure' Dragonborn if you know what I mean. Which kind of sucks because the Companions are the Fighters Guild equivalent in Skyrim so that's a big list of quests and the benefits they bring to my melee focused guy that I'm gonna turn away from. Unless there's a way around it but I want that guarantee first before doing any more quests for them. Oh well, it's not like I don't have enough quests going for me at the minute anyway (seriously, there's about 7 active side quests and I'm scared to look at how many I have under Miscellaneous)
so, everybody's telling me how good Skyrim is and I have been debating on playing it. I never got into Oblivion and into free-roaming world playing, but someone give me a big reason why I should play it and what I should start doing if I decide to play the game.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/5020-The-Elder-Scrolls-V-Skyrim (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/5020-The-Elder-Scrolls-V-Skyrim)
[noembed](http://i.imgur.com/SN0Wul.jpg) (http://i.imgur.com/SN0Wu.jpg)
(mind the music)
Skyrim Adventures with Mans Best Friend (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9X3js5t3Mc#ws)[/noembed]
I've got about 15k gold now. What can I do with it?
btw, anybody got that mammoth tusk in one of the sidequests? I just can't seem to get one at all.
I've got about 15k gold now. What can I do with it?
btw, anybody got that mammoth tusk in one of the sidequests? I just can't seem to get one at all.
The only problem I have is that now, I'm running out of lockpicks and I need more. Stupid expert chests made me break them. Any ideas on where I can get more somewhere?
Also, I discovered this massive fort in the mountains, again overrun with Forsaken soldiers. And I mean massive, it had multiple rooms and took me a while to explore it all, but it's not coming up as 'Cleared' on my map. Not sure if I'm missing something. Although looking at it, it is tied to an achievement in the game, I guess there must be some quest for it which I've preemptively cleared. Wouldn't be the first time XDI came across one like that. A big fort with three seperate interiors and quite a few different ways to attack it. I managed to sneak by and climb the highest tower and killed almost everyone with arrows. I actually haven't done a whole lot lately. I'm trying to raise money to buy a home in Solitude(About halfway there right now) and just trying to do a bunch of the sidequests that I picked up early on and forgot about.
Also, I discovered this massive fort in the mountains, again overrun with Forsaken soldiers. And I mean massive, it had multiple rooms and took me a while to explore it all, but it's not coming up as 'Cleared' on my map. Not sure if I'm missing something. Although looking at it, it is tied to an achievement in the game, I guess there must be some quest for it which I've preemptively cleared. Wouldn't be the first time XDI managed to sneak by and climb the highest tower and killed almost everyone with arrows.
I built up his trust long enough for him to give me a shiv to kill someone else in the mine, but as he was sitting and writing on his chair, I took that shiv and started fighting him with it. He wasn't expecting a Dragonborn that's for sure! I took his key and escaped the mine through a tunnel which led to me getting my equipment back too.Oh, I didn't think I had any other option but to join. :sweatdrop:
I picked the lock to get into the Temple of Dibella hoping that I would get to spy on them performing some secret sex ritual where they rub magic potions all over each other. The followers were just chanting (Fully clothed :( ) and they spotted me. When talk of punishment came up, I thought maybe a spanking or being stripped and forced to walk the streets of Markarth, but no, they wanted me to find some girl.
To celebrate the opening of the Steam Workshop for Skyrim, Valve and Bethesda have teamed up to bring you the Portal 2 Space Core mod, which will let the aggressively space-centric little robot tag along on your adventures in Tamriel.
Also, since Skyrim was the only major release of 2011 without Nolan North in it, you should consider this mod a patch to fix that problem. You can now feel free to include Skyrim in the "Nolan North" section of your video game library, which is to say, your video game library.
finished playing skyrim last month, I wonder if they could make/made some expansions...I've got 2 characters btw one thief-like assasin and one semi-mage type...
And guess who was the one who married us? The priest I beat up earlier! :lol:I facepalmed. While lolling. :lol:
2 yrs after getting the game (not playing all the time) I finally got Dragonscale Armor and weaponsI still never have