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About this mod
This journal tells the story of the Eye of Magnus from the perspective of Ancano, a cog in the Thalmor war machine. He has something interesting things to say. This mod meshes very well with the mod Savos Arwen's regrets.
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
- Changelogs
With this mod I announce my retirement from the Skyrim Nexus community.
The Journal of Ancano
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This journal tells the story of the Eye of Magnus from the perspective of Ancano, a cog in the Thalmor war machine.
His writings paint a quite different picture than that the player experiences.
This mod goes very well with the mod Savos Aren's Regrets and was partly inspired by it:
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/28410
Installation:
>>>>>>>>>>>
This is a simple mod but nothing is simple in SSE
If you don't have any Ancano editing mods then simply load up the ESL version.
This mod needs to go before any mod that makes any changes to the NPC Ancano record, but then your will need to forward the book inventory record from this mod using SSEedit to an Ancano patch that loads last. I have included a patch for Grantyboy's Immersive College of Winterhold because that mod does edit Ancano, which loads after ICW.
If you use ICW and an NPC mod that edits Ancano's appearance then facegen files are involved and it gets complicated ... My mod probably isn't worth the trouble unless you already know how to handle this.
Both the mod and the patch are in ESL format.
Developers Notes and Spoilers
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Perhaps one doesn't want to play through the Eye of Magnus Quest again ..... but with this mod and the Savos Aren's Regrets mod I would recommend doing that.
However, here is the text of Ancano's Journal nevertheless.
As part of my philosophical practice I project myself into the position of anyone I dislike.
Ancano grated on me badly, his arrogance, his abuse of power, his obvious duplicilty ..... so this mod was born.
I simply asked myself "What would it be like to be Ancano, a powerful being probably a 1000 years old, stuck being the fake nursemaid of the College of Winterhold." To project him as a completely callous Darwinist would just be too easy.
And objectively Ancano is a (anti)hero in the frame of reference of the college and the Nords because he failed to do his duty as a Thalmor and failed to report that probably the most powerful artifact in Tamriel was in his possession. Perhaps he is a hero to the Thalmor as his quest for personal power prevented the inevitable blood bath as the Thalmor itself fought for control of the Eye.
This journal attempts to reconcile many puzzling aspects of the Eye of Magnus quest and Skyrim in general.
1) How did Savros Aren escape Labyrinthian and Morokei when his fellow mages were shredded by his weak minions?
Savros did not escape, he was parasitized and allowed to leave to be Morokei 's unwitting minion. In essence Morokei was really the being controlling the College of Winterhold, but to him there was nothing worth managing until the eye showed up, and then there was the problem of Ancano.
2) Why is Morokei so weak and shielding/regenerating when the Dragonborn reaches him?
Savros/Morokei and Ancano fought for control of the Eye in the Hall of the Elements, and Ancano prevailed and almost destroyed Morokei in the battle . This is why only Savros died as it was very taxing for Ancano
3) Why is Estormo waiting in Labyrinthian for the Dragonborn?
Ancano sent him to deal with Morokei but he wasn't strong enough to succeed, so he waited for the Dragonborn to do his dirty work.
4) Why does Ancano visit the Augur?
To shut him up and ensure his compliance.
5) Why do the Thalmor ban worship of Talos upon pain of death?
The Thalmor do not care the slightest whether people they consider peasants worship Talos. As a man who became a God the Thalmor identified him as the weak link of the Aedra and are using him for their own agenda to empower themselves. Worship of Talos messes up their plans either because it empowers him or messes him up even worse than he is. The Thalmor have been around long enough to know no man can be a god.
6) Why are the Thalmor waiting around to finish off Skyrim and the Empire?
They simply care nothing about the Empire and Skyrim ..... they are simply a tool for larger goals.
7) The Eye of the Magnus quest is just too easy, how could the dragonborn possibly defeat Morokei, even at level 100?
Give Ancano the credit he deserves, sure he's a traitor and an ass... But he did most of the heavy lifting because he knew how.
8) Why didn't Morokei just find the Eye of Magnus by himself?
The answer is that the Eye of Magnus was very well hidden, as was the Staff of Magnus.... Only the actions of well-meaning idiots exposed their locations. Many powerful beings spent a lot of energy hiding them. Perhaps the divines were involved too.
The Journal of Ancano
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This journal tells the story of the Eye of Magnus from the perspective of Ancano, a cog in the Thalmor war machine.
His writings paint a quite different picture than that the player experiences.
This mod goes very well with the mod Savos Aren's Regrets and was partly inspired by it:
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/28410
Installation:
>>>>>>>>>>>
This is a simple mod but nothing is simple in SSE
If you don't have any Ancano editing mods then simply load up the ESL version.
This mod needs to go before any mod that makes any changes to the NPC Ancano record, but then your will need to forward the book inventory record from this mod using SSEedit to an Ancano patch that loads last. I have included a patch for Grantyboy's Immersive College of Winterhold because that mod does edit Ancano, which loads after ICW.
If you use ICW and an NPC mod that edits Ancano's appearance then facegen files are involved and it gets complicated ... My mod probably isn't worth the trouble unless you already know how to handle this.
Both the mod and the patch are in ESL format.
Developers Notes and Spoilers
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Perhaps one doesn't want to play through the Eye of Magnus Quest again ..... but with this mod and the Savos Aren's Regrets mod I would recommend doing that.
However, here is the text of Ancano's Journal nevertheless.
Spoiler:
Running Account of Posting 920
Day 29
I am over a thousand years old and I have never had a post so aggravating and disempowering as playing advisor to these self-styled and largely unskilled rabble. Today I almost snapped and burned Mirabelle to cinders. Momma Mirabelle speaking to me like a snot faced child. I have killed for far less an insult.
I could best all of them at once, perhaps not Faralda and definitely not Savos.
There is something about him, something that smells like carrion and rotten tombs. I will have to deal very carefully with him when the time comes.
Day 38
Still no instructions from Ancarion regarding our emancipation. Soon that wounded "god" Talos will be our vehicle to ascension, but not to the yoke of godhood. The Aedra are even more foolish than mortals thinking to make a god out of a man.
How much longer until our people put this college, Skyrim, and the Empire out of their misery and mine.
Day 42
A new student has enrolled at the college and every new person here adds to my headaches. Another tedious death when the time comes. I definitely do not like their look and they smell faintly like Savros, old and rotten. Their nickname will be Rafflesia and I will keep a close eye on that one.
Day 44
Something totally unexpected has happened and the vehicle of that was none other than Rafflesia. That cannot be coincidence. My gut tells me not to kill them just yet.
A singularity has been presented to me as nonchalantly as the morning breakfast on a plate. A singularity gifted to one of the few who knows how to use it.
It is divine providence.
I need to move very quickly before word reaches command. If they knew they would send the entire Thalmor army here tomorrow to burn this place to rubble to acquire what is mine. These fools hate me, but are ignorant that the only reason they will breath tomorrow is because of my failure to do my duty. The means of escape from this prison of servitude and half life has made me realize that I hate my people even more than these peasants.
Day 45
Today I visited the nexus under the college to silence whatever that thing is that calls itself the Augur. The bright college built upon a dark nexus, how ironic. The task was simple. I told the Augur that the “Eye” would either be mine, or possessed by the Thalmor … no other options exist. Interfere and word will reach my people whether I am dead or alive.
Day 45
I was careless with the barrier and Savos, Mirabel and Rafflesia breached it. No not careless, that rottenness about Savos is crystal clear now that I see through the singularity. He has a parasite on his soul, a very ancient and deadly parasite and he didn’t even know. It took all the power I could muster from the eye to banish that thing. I wounded it but it is not destroyed. Killing Savos was almost an act of mercy.
Drawing more from the singularity to kill the rest is just too risky.
Day 46
I am getting more and more in tune with the singularity and soon I will be free of Tamriel. Both peoples will curse my name, but they will still live instead of die. I know my people, and know the bloodbath that would ensue. I can sense the Psijics, shady and probing. If I were not here, they would have already taken it to do Gods know what. I have been around long enough to know that they are no different from us.
Day 47
I received a short, troubling and cut off sending from Estormo that he failed to deal with the Savro’s parasite and that it has a control rod that he failed to acquire.
Troubling incompetence.
That is why the Savros/parasite almost took the "eye" from me.
I must hasten to escape Tamriel before even more complications happen.
Show
Running Account of Posting 920
Day 29
I am over a thousand years old and I have never had a post so aggravating and disempowering as playing advisor to these self-styled and largely unskilled rabble. Today I almost snapped and burned Mirabelle to cinders. Momma Mirabelle speaking to me like a snot faced child. I have killed for far less an insult.
I could best all of them at once, perhaps not Faralda and definitely not Savos.
There is something about him, something that smells like carrion and rotten tombs. I will have to deal very carefully with him when the time comes.
Day 38
Still no instructions from Ancarion regarding our emancipation. Soon that wounded "god" Talos will be our vehicle to ascension, but not to the yoke of godhood. The Aedra are even more foolish than mortals thinking to make a god out of a man.
How much longer until our people put this college, Skyrim, and the Empire out of their misery and mine.
Day 42
A new student has enrolled at the college and every new person here adds to my headaches. Another tedious death when the time comes. I definitely do not like their look and they smell faintly like Savros, old and rotten. Their nickname will be Rafflesia and I will keep a close eye on that one.
Day 44
Something totally unexpected has happened and the vehicle of that was none other than Rafflesia. That cannot be coincidence. My gut tells me not to kill them just yet.
A singularity has been presented to me as nonchalantly as the morning breakfast on a plate. A singularity gifted to one of the few who knows how to use it.
It is divine providence.
I need to move very quickly before word reaches command. If they knew they would send the entire Thalmor army here tomorrow to burn this place to rubble to acquire what is mine. These fools hate me, but are ignorant that the only reason they will breath tomorrow is because of my failure to do my duty. The means of escape from this prison of servitude and half life has made me realize that I hate my people even more than these peasants.
Day 45
Today I visited the nexus under the college to silence whatever that thing is that calls itself the Augur. The bright college built upon a dark nexus, how ironic. The task was simple. I told the Augur that the “Eye” would either be mine, or possessed by the Thalmor … no other options exist. Interfere and word will reach my people whether I am dead or alive.
Day 45
I was careless with the barrier and Savos, Mirabel and Rafflesia breached it. No not careless, that rottenness about Savos is crystal clear now that I see through the singularity. He has a parasite on his soul, a very ancient and deadly parasite and he didn’t even know. It took all the power I could muster from the eye to banish that thing. I wounded it but it is not destroyed. Killing Savos was almost an act of mercy.
Drawing more from the singularity to kill the rest is just too risky.
Day 46
I am getting more and more in tune with the singularity and soon I will be free of Tamriel. Both peoples will curse my name, but they will still live instead of die. I know my people, and know the bloodbath that would ensue. I can sense the Psijics, shady and probing. If I were not here, they would have already taken it to do Gods know what. I have been around long enough to know that they are no different from us.
Day 47
I received a short, troubling and cut off sending from Estormo that he failed to deal with the Savro’s parasite and that it has a control rod that he failed to acquire.
Troubling incompetence.
That is why the Savros/parasite almost took the "eye" from me.
I must hasten to escape Tamriel before even more complications happen.
As part of my philosophical practice I project myself into the position of anyone I dislike.
Ancano grated on me badly, his arrogance, his abuse of power, his obvious duplicilty ..... so this mod was born.
I simply asked myself "What would it be like to be Ancano, a powerful being probably a 1000 years old, stuck being the fake nursemaid of the College of Winterhold." To project him as a completely callous Darwinist would just be too easy.
And objectively Ancano is a (anti)hero in the frame of reference of the college and the Nords because he failed to do his duty as a Thalmor and failed to report that probably the most powerful artifact in Tamriel was in his possession. Perhaps he is a hero to the Thalmor as his quest for personal power prevented the inevitable blood bath as the Thalmor itself fought for control of the Eye.
This journal attempts to reconcile many puzzling aspects of the Eye of Magnus quest and Skyrim in general.
1) How did Savros Aren escape Labyrinthian and Morokei when his fellow mages were shredded by his weak minions?
Savros did not escape, he was parasitized and allowed to leave to be Morokei 's unwitting minion. In essence Morokei was really the being controlling the College of Winterhold, but to him there was nothing worth managing until the eye showed up, and then there was the problem of Ancano.
2) Why is Morokei so weak and shielding/regenerating when the Dragonborn reaches him?
Savros/Morokei and Ancano fought for control of the Eye in the Hall of the Elements, and Ancano prevailed and almost destroyed Morokei in the battle . This is why only Savros died as it was very taxing for Ancano
3) Why is Estormo waiting in Labyrinthian for the Dragonborn?
Ancano sent him to deal with Morokei but he wasn't strong enough to succeed, so he waited for the Dragonborn to do his dirty work.
4) Why does Ancano visit the Augur?
To shut him up and ensure his compliance.
5) Why do the Thalmor ban worship of Talos upon pain of death?
The Thalmor do not care the slightest whether people they consider peasants worship Talos. As a man who became a God the Thalmor identified him as the weak link of the Aedra and are using him for their own agenda to empower themselves. Worship of Talos messes up their plans either because it empowers him or messes him up even worse than he is. The Thalmor have been around long enough to know no man can be a god.
6) Why are the Thalmor waiting around to finish off Skyrim and the Empire?
They simply care nothing about the Empire and Skyrim ..... they are simply a tool for larger goals.
7) The Eye of the Magnus quest is just too easy, how could the dragonborn possibly defeat Morokei, even at level 100?
Give Ancano the credit he deserves, sure he's a traitor and an ass... But he did most of the heavy lifting because he knew how.
8) Why didn't Morokei just find the Eye of Magnus by himself?
The answer is that the Eye of Magnus was very well hidden, as was the Staff of Magnus.... Only the actions of well-meaning idiots exposed their locations. Many powerful beings spent a lot of energy hiding them. Perhaps the divines were involved too.