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Grim Tales - Mistress of the Thalmor - Fenrir Unbound Book III - Interlude I
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Grim Tales - Mistress of the Thalmor - Fenrir Unbound Book III - Interlude I
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45 comments
Domina seems quite ruthless, someone you never, ever want to cross.
Avrein, on the other hand, seems like more of a decent person, someone a few of my characters might like, or almost like. ...Not to mention he's rather built for an elf.
Well done, both pics and story!
Avrein, well he is more complex because he doesn't see the world in B&W (something Domina is more prone to do, for her its Us vs Them). He is a battle mage so he did pack on a lot of muscle (although not as buff as Grim or Erik). I suspect talking to Andil would be very enlightening for Avrein and it was Andil that made me reconsider the Thalmor as being 100% dipwads so in some ways he is helping Avrein along. Of course if you question the cause and then still embrace it you are still a dipward - the Thalmor are truly not a nice faction, up there with other hate groups in real life. Their actual plan (based on lore) is to return all to the void so they regain their immortal and divine status. Some crazy folks in that party
I like the idea of black haired Altmer; very unique and I wonder if there's more to their parentage than meets the eye? (My mind has Domina and Avrein being half-elves themselves! What a slap in the face to miss-pure-breed! )
Anyway, looking forward to seeing the being guy again and how this will all unravel!!
Like her father, and his before him, she was born with the raven black hair so uncommon among the Altmer and considered a fortuitous omen of great power.
I wanted to expand on this but can only write so much and also pace some things out. But as a little spoiler for those that come and read the comments I will say her father made a deal with one of the Princes and as usual with the Princes all deals come with a price ... a price paid for by all born into the family with the gift ...
Something interesting I noticed you doing with the above story, perhaps consciously, or subconsciously, is making Avrein somewhat of a 'good' guy. Don't get me wrong, he's still a complete egotistical jerk, but everyone loves it when there's a possibility that the bad guy will become the hero, which hasn't happened yet, but may happen if his crazed sister Domina gets overzealous with her plans.
In the eye of the Altmer he is a good guy and a hero. To humans ... well he is a Thalmor and he fought in the Great War ... but then look at the Civil War with friends and family turned against each other.
If I was writing a book I could carefully stretch things out through 300 pages - with the ability to go back and forth in the writing to tweak and later things so it all went smoothly. Stories on Nexus are much harder. I have a general outline but it just covers core things. For example - there will be a female master villain in Book 3 who will do X Y and Z. But what she looked like, her motives, and such I flesh out as I begin active work on writing.
Anyhow Avrein is going to be the rare (?) Thalmor who begins to question their ultimate goals and his faith. Which direction that takes him I won't say but either choice he makes will be a difficult one.
And all backed up with your great pics!
Bravo!
Ugh, I'm almost scared to start reading all of your stories, not quite sure where to begin.
SO MUCH CONTENT.
http://home.comcast.net/~thunor/tales.html
Otherwise just enjoy the ones you happen to catch when you are in the mood
Will have to try and catch up when I get the opportunity, seems I'll be broke until Christmas so no Dragonage Inquisition for me! Which means lots of free time I'll expect.
Pssst! Trying to stitch together my story where I left off to continue it. Been itching for so long but never gotten my thumbs out, thought 10 months is uh.. more than enough?
Now to try and find my old notes again..
On the prophecy which reflects Avrein, well there is a small error. A prophecy Thalmor would never use the term "Summerset isle" but instead Alinor. And if the error had wanted to reveal to a careful reader of the falsity of the written? If the thalmor had produced the prophecy, in order to manipulate events? If the fate of White-demon was another? I get these suggestions, then it means that your story has hit the mark.
Great work my friend, I enjoyed this interlude, I was a little away from reading your wonderful stories, and I apologize for that.
Your comments on Domina are intriguing and offer some wonderful ideas although I can't really say one way or the other whether or not your guesses are in the right direction or not. However from a general standpoint your theory of why the Thalmor might allow a half-elf in are very logical - although ... well no I will wait and expound more on the subject at a later date.
The Thalmor are interesting in how they achieved power based on the lore. They were a small group and not taken seriously ... until the Oblivion Crisis. Then they stepped in and took credit. Only to late did some people catch on (some interesting quotes about it) but by then it was to late. Those who openly disagreed with them tended to vanish. As you say, however, almost any political power (or military even) is really based on the individuals - if everyone refused to follow them they would be over. Only in a fantasy (or science fiction I suppose) game can one achieve singular power without the support of the people. At least ideologically. In practice getting people to unite and drop support is next to impossible ... at least until a tipping point is reached. However I am just an armchair hack when it comes to this stuff and I already know from reading your stories and comments you are far more educated on all of this; one reason I do enjoy your stories and insights so much.
I would like to say that the reason Summerset Isle is used in the prophecy is because that prophecy is not the one for Altmer. It is the one that is against them and comes from the human races. There are two prophecies in that one heralds Thalmor's Bane (Grim) and the other who is Thalmor's Blessing (Domina appears to be the most likely candidate). Better yet I would like to say that Summerset Isle was used because I am so good at intricate plots and double meanings that I was doing just what you suggested (much like the fake prophecy concerning Auriel's Bow).
However I must confess it was simply that I did not know they referred to their homeland as Alinor. I have never been fond of the Altmer in any TES game (only the Dunmer have I ever really liked and played) and hence have largely ignored much of their lore. I have been forced to do a lot more research into them lately (for my stories) but by then it was to late.
That being said I can truthfully say that the prophecy I have been using since Book II (where Grim first heard the prophecy) is for the humans so purely by accident I have a semi-valid excuse
Now that you have warned me I will be sure to use Alinor when I speak about the opposite prophecy - which is in favor of the Thalmor and Altmer.
The only thing I will add to all of this is that prophecies are seldom interpreted correctly until after the fact :p
Thanks again for your wonderful comment Farvat, I very much appreciated it!
It is also interesting that the Altmer society had begun to change, becoming a tad more open to outsiders. If it had not been for the Thalmor the great war would probably not have happened. In every single bit of lore I have read there is not a single redeeming quality to the Thalmor no matter how you look at it.
I don't mean the individuals - many join for reasons other than politics - but the overall belief system of the Thalmor is closer to genocide and enslavement of all non-mer ... and I expect only the Altmer are really exempt from their condemnation.
But it is interesting to see them more as individuals and what motivates them to join and follow such an organization.
Thank you very much for the comment!
For me it is always interesting to not only know about heroes but also about their enemies - their motivations, goals and habits. Great to see this in Grim's saga! Domina is apparently perfectly fitting name for the one who so loves to show her leadership and power. Despite her family, Domina certainly is not "little princess" type, she worked on her career herself and worked a lot... thus the result. Her terrifying power is very intriguing and even though all Altmer has a natural talent for arcane arts I wonder maybe except her own abilities there was something or someone who helped her increase them?
However, despite her highest position, it is evident that Domina is terrible as person, true Thalmor through and through and would step on anyone, including her own blood to archive her goal... which is very unsettling and even scary, since she has no vulnerable points (her family) that could pressed upon... I guess Grim's stand against her would be very tough one, especially with her beliefs that she can be the one who will destroy him...
Domina's brother - Arvein on the other hand did not appear as totally evil or unsympathetic, right now he appears full of doubts and has something like inner crisis... His sister clearly not the one who will tolerate any form of disobedience and her attack on him proved it. It was painful scene watch, I knew many siblings who argued and fight but it wasn't really serious while such as Domina could kill her own brother without a second thought. By the way... maybe I am wrong, but was that bard, half elf he refused to kill - Aurora from Dannee's stories? She did spend a lot of time in Solitude, learning of how to be a bard and given her general kindness and innocence, I guess even for Thalmor it would be hard to kill such person as her.
In any case, Arvein certainly is conflicted character and I am looking forward to see how he is going to accomplish his mission... The plot thickens and Grim doesn't even know in what danger he could soon find himself.
I will be looking forward for continuation and thank you very much for sharing your awesome work!
Domina is overall pretty difficult to get at, although she does have a couple of weaknesses - her desire for perfection and need for purity could work against her; also there is a secret in her family that could also be an issue. She had/has some morals but they are buried beneath her zeal and fanaticism .. and she never had really good role models to begin with. But overall she is simply not a nice person.
Avrein was raised by Altmers but had more influence from his Mother who was less interested in the Thalmor way of life and more just interested in social climbing and being proper. She is also a tad softer than her husband and was more likely to interact with other races. She saw them as inferior but didn't have any particular hate towards them either. Also Avrein was often away from home (on purpose due to his mother) and had more interaction with a wider variety of Altmer and opinions.
In regards to the half-bard, well a very good guess and certainly she is sweet enough that few would want to hurt her (not that Domina would hesitate). However there are two very good reasons why it could not be her and you will find out what those are fairly soon.
As for Grim you are correct. He is more alert after the vampire attack but the Thalmor have studiously avoided interacting with him per commands from the inner-council. That could change though and now that he is at the college they want to keep a closer watch on him.
Really appreciate the feedback, inspires me to continue with my more intricate plot lines