Of course, we've gotta talk about Talviel. Because I can.
Talviel is a Nord-Imperial chef born and raised in Riften. At 16, she joined the Thieves Guild and soon rose through the ranks to become one of the Guild's best all-rounders. Now in her early 30s, she's mostly given up a life of crime to travel Tamriel as a wandering chef and part-time activist, which she's done for over half a decade. Of course, that makes her a battle-seasoned adventurer (and the Dragonborn but we're ignoring that for the NPC energy here).
Things she might say in passing would include: 'Yikes, that may be cast iron but you really don't know how to scrub, huh?' 'Sheogorath may have suggested cheese for everyone, but I propose cheese just for me.' 'Let's have a mead break. I know I say that a lot, but adventuring is thirsty work.'
Talviel as a follower fights with either a bow or dual wield daggers. She's a sneaky bean and prefers distance kills to melee fighting if she can help it. As for being safe? The girl is hella neurotic sometimes, so yes, I'd say so.
Thanks @mareenavee for the tag! Go ahead and copy this ask game for everyone else!
@thattalviel Finally finished! My first time doing a full illustration digitally- or in any medium since like, college. Shading was an adventure, especially since I’m used to drawing in plain old graphite mechanical pencil. I’ll definitely have to play around with Krita more now that I have an idea of how to use it. Thank you again for all of your awesome content!
Finished commission for @tastesoftamriel !! I was so excited to get the chance to bring Talviel to life. I’ve been a huge fan of her blog since I first joined the fandom. 🙏💙 Truly an honor.
a long time ago, when our first theories about aeor & molaesmyr began circa campaign 2's aeor arc, i came up with a lot of far fetched concepts in my obsession with little evidence. i assumed ludinus was related to fae, and if he were an archfey, surely his domain would be molaesmyr, and the corruption he left in his wake.
now... i think i was in a sense right.
ludinus corrupts everything he touches. he is a horseman of war who brings out bloodlust in everyone, makes others' anger a raging cog in his machinations, ensures the young twist themselves for a cause, whether for or against him. he leaves destruction of society wherever he walks. he warps the literal nature of things. kind men turn cold as issylra. a society of air becomes a tornado desperate to rend him apart with its winds.
he is the uncanny valley of a fae to the actual true fae around him. he is a representation of nature destroyed for the sake of progress. he has the power of an archfey & an archdruid but an archmage is what he is proud to be, disregarding the rest of him that he killed for.
he is his coveted synthetic aeorian forest of a2, that infected the savalirwood.
hundreds of years after molaesmyr's fall imathan cannot understand why ludinus was so different from him & his people. he couldnt have known that most elves he knew were simple folk who loved the city of trees, the connection to nature around them.
and ludinus was more than an elf, raised in an age of time travel & gold.
The King Imathan Talviel, the elven king of Uthodurn, this is his description for EGtW,
“The elder king of the surviving elves of Molaesmyr, Imathan is as candid as he is graceful in his old age. Patient but stern, he guides the elven people of Uthodurn with a calm strength and wisdom that helps maintain the continuing peace between the dual communities of Uthodurn. Imathan was a priest of Corellon in his younger days; now he maintains the faith among his people and shares the light of the Arch Heart with the dwarves of Uthodurn.”
Guess who also was around and present during the fall of Molaesmyr, none other than Ludinus himself.
I was wondering why on earth Uthodurn of all places for the Hells to be brought to. I understand that it is apart of Chetney’s history but I couldn’t see the relevance of how it played into the current story. This is likely how. What better way to learn about Ludinus and his history than through a man that lived alongside him?
Do you think the elves of Molaesmyr celebrated when Ludinus left town to go to the Empire for a bit and then were like ah damn when he came back for the Apogee Solstice?
Like he literally left for who knows how long, apparently stopped the Eve of Crimson Midnight, established the CA and then at some point came back to Molaesmyr to be there for the fall or cause the fall. (The timeline of this is still so weird for me but I guess if the whole town did not care about him, makes sense they don’t even find it weird he started a WHOLE ASS POLITICAL BODY in another nation.)
Imagine being from Molaesmyr, hating this guy and then hearing the Dwendalian folk be like “we love this guy, he seems nice.” The side eyes they would be getting? I mean Imathan did say there’s not a lot of people left who knew him personally. But man, Imathan must have had some wild ass political meetings with the Empire.
Got @tastesoftamriel 's copies of the second edition of her cookbook, and her worldbuilding compendium, finished finally! They'll be on their way to her tomorrow.