Post at Gamasutra: Moral Ambiguity and Choices in Skyrim

[oscar]

I'm kind of enjoying the lore thus far.

TES lore is very awesome.

I quite liked the overarching plot of Skyrim. The extract at the start of the book feels like it could have come straight out of a history book. I disagree with the article as I thought both sides were quite sympathetic. The Stormcloak/Nord racism was pretty mild and typical for a medieval society and was of a "Skyrim for the Nords!" type nationalism rather than anything genocidal (that's left for the Aldmer). And even that nationalism seemed to only come from a few local thug types. I did feel a bit bad though for the Dunmer Assyrian bros though after how well I felt I'd gotten to know them after Morrowind.

They probably could have pushed the racial aspect further (additional hurdles if your not a Nord for joining the Stormcloaks for instance would have been sensible) but probably didn't want the trouble if some kid took it the wrong way and pulled a Breivik or local Klan endorsed it.

Talos worship was not even in Daggerfall, there were no temples of him over there (and it covered TWO provinces) and in Morrowind you had the Talos cult that was pretty small and a bit crazy.

Heh I remember that quest. The cult seemed to be exclusively limited to a few fanatics in the legions. But considering the amount of time that's passed since Morrowind, it's quite possible the cult has expanded. Especially considering the low fortunes of the Empire and the non-Aldmeri races.

 

[DraQ]

Heh I remember that quest. The cult seemed to be exclusively limited to a few fanatics in the legions.

If you see a small (probably batshit) christian sect, would you consider worship of Jesus limited to that cult?

There may be many different cults worshipping the same deity.

In Morrowind both the Imperial Cult and this small group of radicals in the legion worship Talos.

 

[shiggidyshwa]

The Stormcloak/Nord racism was pretty mild and typical for a medieval society and was of a "Skyrim for the Nords!" type nationalism rather than anything genocidal (that's left for the Aldmer).

LOL isn't that always how it starts? Anyways, a big part of the back story concerning Markarth is how the Reachmen managed to capture it and build a kingdom in the Reach while Skyrim's men were at war with the Aldmeri Dominion. After the war, Ulric led an army to retake the hold, and proceeded to drive out all of the Reachmen, effectively turning them into the Forsworn. There's also one book in particular that details the cleansing of Reachmen sympathizers in Markarth.

 

[Drakron]

But considering the amount of time that's passed since Morrowind, it's quite possible the cult has expanded.

Well there were changes from Daggerfall to Morrowind, the whole Nine Divines and the Imperial Cult did not existed in Daggerfall that keep temples separated that even had their own specific Knight Orders were Morrowind that can be understood due to taking place in Vvardenfell, the same cannot be said with Oblivion that continued with Morrowind Imperial Cult without any good reason.

I could say the things we see in Daggerfall were due to High Rock influence over the region and come up with many excuses but the truth is, Todd happened.

And so the great Oblivion pissing on the Lore began.

If I want to rationalize, I would say Iliac Bay not being centralized and having a long clerical and knightly tradition continued as before as Talos never gained much of a influence there and continued to be viewed as a foreign Hero-God.

(Note:The Mages Guild back in Daggerfall had a Knight Order called "Order of the Lamp" that was tasked with security on the Guild Halls, apparently Oblivion gone as far as implementing it but never activated it)