minasnorma

[minasnorma]

As you make your way through the crowd, dutifully filling glasses as discretly as you can, the lonely Dunmer leaning against a cabinet catches your eye. You pause.

He's not on the list, you're sure of it- you could recite it by heart by now. Yet, he had to be allowed in somehow, and no one seems to even notice him. You recognize the moon on his outfit as part of Azura's crest, as confirmed by the sunrise colors of his robes, but you wonder where the star is. As you watch him from afar and wonder whether you should report this stranger, his gaze meets yours- and for a fleeting moment, confusingly, you feel another pair of eyes staring back. You resolutely turn your attention back to the other guests. The amount of gold the Embassy offers isn't nearly high enough for you to get concerned with whoever this might be.

[Part 1]

Artist comment under the cut :

Today's guests (?) to the @tes-gala are my Nerevarine, Devathi Sol, and his friend mind roommate life partner lover soulmate prophecy twin (a complicated and not necessarily healthy situation) Nerevar.

It's the first time I draw his 4E201 version! While originally angry and misanthropic, Devathi has considerably mellowed out during the 200 years he spent away from Tamriel. Nowadays, he's more curious of people, while still retaining a good measure of grumpiness. In his time as the Nerevarine, he was a buff spellsword, striding across Vvardenfell like nobody's business; two centuries of arcane studies later, he lost most of his muscles and gained some weight, but he's also a well-rounded, powerful wizard with a killer mustache.

My take is that the people of Tamriel don't see the ghost of Nerevar. His soul resides in Moonshadow, and he's been bound to Devathi since he put Moon-and-Star on. At best, those with strong ties to Azura can feel his presence on occasion, but Devathi is the only one who sees and hears him fully. Nerevar could've left after the defeat of Dagoth Ur and the resolution of the prophecy... But shh 🤫

I wanted them to have matching outfits, with Devathi wearing sunrise colors while Nerevar wears sunset ones. As to how they got here, or the logistics of ghost dressing up- I'll leave that up to you!

[minasnorma]

As someone who has been roleplaying as a Dunmer Arch Mage of College of Winterhold - EVERYTHING this person has said.

Like, here comes an Arch Mage of the College, who is also a FUCKING DRAGONBORN, CONFIRMED BY THE GREYBEARDS THEMSELVES, willing to work for you and help you rebuild your town for practically nothing (a title of a Thane) and you just??? ask him to fetch you a helmet??

Not negotiating with him about the limitations of the College or to get the whole College to help rebuild the city as a pay back. Not tell this clearly influential Dunmer guy (because, apparently, he saved Raven Rock on Solstheim from becoming a ghost town) to spread the word and tell his people residing in Skyrim to move into Winterhold, where not only would they be encouraged to build a home for themselves, but to also have a piece of one of their revered patron deities and have a safe space from being shunned by Nords/Stormcloaks. Even better, BUILD DOCKS SO THAT YOU COULD HAVE CONTACT WITH SOLSTHEIM THAT IS LITERALLY RIGHT! THERE! Not even be honored that a fucking Dragonborn just waltzed into your court and offers to help for pretty much free in rebuilding a city because he sympathizes and feels sorry for your people and wants to make up for the Eye of Magnus disaster.

NOPE!

JUST ASK HIM TO FETCH A DAMN HELMET!

Like, COME ON.

Like, I get it that Nords hate and don't trust magic now (ironic, since it used to be sacred in the past, with all of the Dragon Priests and most Nord heroes being mages), but this is just ridiculous... although, not unrealistic. I can easily imagine this kind of frustrating stupidity happening irl.

[minasnorma]

The guests have been pouring uninterrupted into the halls of the Embassy for about an hour now, and you adjust your livery while repressing a yawn. You've been tasked with refilling the drinks tonight, which is almost insulting- you didn't spend all those years in culinary school for this- but well, you do need the money. As you make your way to the counter, a loud voice hails you.

You recognize the fabled Last Dragonborn, Elisvael Oakvale, a fairly drunk Bosmer dressed as Sanguine, slumped on a bench ; right by him, Solveig Ebony-Heart, the young Arch-Mage of Winterhold, sits ramrod straight in an outfit bearing the astrolabe and other symbols associated with Magnus. The staff laid by her side emits an aura of power that makes you uneasy- that prop must've been mighty expensive, you think. You walk up to them and offer refreshments. Solveig eyes you without moving an inch. "No thank you", she simply says, and you wonder what kind of person would inflict such an evening upon themselves sober. Elisvael obviously agrees, as he snatches both glasses in one fell swoop. "More for me, then! Why thank you, darling." He winks at you. Solveig rolls her eyes. How are these two even friends, you wonder as you walk away, puzzled.

[Part 2]

Artist comment under the cut :

Here's my first entry for @tes-gala ! I decided to put y'all in the POV of an anonymous waiter/ess at the Embassy's party. I'd like to introduce all of my OCs this week and although I don't have that many, I still can't spend too much time on each piece. Which is why this one is so rushed :C the lighting is terrible. But eh.

I like having an OC for each faction, as RP is very important to me when playing a TES game :

My Last Dragonborn, Elisvael Oakvale, is a hedonistic Bosmer bard who has no business being the hero who saves the world. He resents the responsibility, and only does it because he's got a team of folks basically devoted to making sure he doesn't run away.

The Arch-Mage, Solveig Ebony-Heart, is the daughter of a Nord blacksmith and a Dunmer refugee who met in Windhelm and ran to Cyrodiil before Ulfric's uprising. She's a no nonsense lady with a severe case of resting b*tch face (she does like Elisvael's company, he's kind of her annoying little brother).

If everything goes well, I should make four of these total.

Hope you like my kids ! I love them a lot. ❤️

[minasnorma]

dunmer ladies

speedpaint here

[minasnorma]

really wish i saw more people interpret nerevar as truly gone. im the only person i know for whom their nerevarine is completely disconnected from nerevar,has none of his memories, personality traits, or cannot see or hear him.

the majority of people i see have some element of nerevar alive with their nerevarines and like memories or talking to him and that's like fine and I don't mean to demean it anyways but to me personally the idea of nerevar being deader than dead and gone forever is so interesting i want to explore that idea with other people but!!!!!! :(

like in a high fantasy world were ghosts are like Irrefutably Real and everywhere to the point of ancestor worship and summoning being part of dunmer culture.... wouldn't it be particularly weird and fucked up if one guy died and just. NEVER came back? at all? yeah ghosts are real. there's even dwemer ghosts in morrowind! except this fucking guy. he got killed so hard even his ghost is gone. the nerevarine having a crisis of faith over not having his memories or being able to hear or see him. the nerevarine who wants to be nerevar but is just all alone. vivec almalexia and dagoth ur waiting thousands of years to see their old friend again but he never comes. Please talk to me about this before i start breaking my teeth gnawing on the cage bars oh my GOD

[minasnorma]

Description: [A video of a woman riding a galloping horse bareback while holding a large rainbow flag.]

[minasnorma]

I think I'll do Art fight this year! It's been on my mind for years but I was always too busy. For once I'm pretty much free to give it a try! Can't wait!

[minasnorma]

where’s that 1900s painting of the centaur mother playing with her child in a grassy field?

[minasnorma]

BAN ON CONVERSION PRACTICES IN THE EU. GO SIGN IT. DEADLINE IS FUCKING MAY 17. WE'RE STILL MISSING 800.000 signatures. FUCKING DO IT.

[minasnorma]

Jesus Christ. Polygon's done.

Plante is out as editor. Massive layoffs across the staff, including Nicole Carpenter, Petrana Radulovic, Michael McWhertor, maybe Charlie Hall...

Fucking hell. I wouldn't have even tried to start writing about games without that site. Goddamnit all.

[minasnorma]

Hope

[minasnorma]

[minasnorma]

Me : *paints one single pitiful thing in like six months* *forgets to post it*

So this is another oil painting! This portrait was based off a gorgeous design by @anneclo-jammes for a DTIYS contest✨

It's tiny - about 8*8 inches/20*20 cm, I had a lot of fun working on it and was very proud of the result, although it didn't do really well in the contest 😅 but oh well. I finished something. That's good enough.

[minasnorma]

@burgershopsammi I think I've seen someone else making the same (very good) point recently, and in the YEARS I've been playing Skyrim, it never hit me !

...anyways, now I'm in the middle of a 13-(small) page comic, sooooo... Thanks for the extra dose of brainworms !

[minasnorma]

Leonid Pasternak  (Ukrainian, 1862–1945) - The Torments of Creative Work

[minasnorma]

Heyyyy what's up I have MORE

[minasnorma]

The Nerevarine at Red Mountain