#rada al saran

[thieves-oasis]

“Leki is laughing on the Far Shores, dancing with her mocking blade.”

— @decentlyfatbear

[pyronianmage]

[soullessbullshit]

Gwendis: Why does Rada call you "babygir-?"

Verandis: Let's stop talking now.

[morhaerians]

Q: "What do you think about your wild brethren?"

Another old - and huge - work of mine with Fennorian (I don't think I'll ever again manage such a huge comic anymore). Translated it however completely only now because I'm both busy and lazy ass. So uhh... Enjoy? P.s. Before anyone will ask - there are in fact a few ways to get rid from vampirism in Elder Scrolls lore, however, they're all either those that Fennorian wouldn't be ready for (such as trading another person's soul for his own to a Daedric Prince, Molag Bal for example) or ways that will work only for Chosen characters, Nerevarine, Champion of Cyrodiil, Last Dragonborn, Vestige etc. Fennorian isn't one of them (but he is surely special in our hearts, yes?)

[elderscrollsconceptart]

Rada al-Saran on his throne

Concept art for The Elder Scrolls: Online

Art by Nuare Studio

[vriibot]

rada is the only vampire lord with swag (wings)

[solitarydegarcia]

custom design of pre-vampiric Rada al-Saran back in his days of Yokudan glory and fashion sense for cerviero do not reupload

[ludinusdaleth]

"I will say this: If the mortals do not move against us, we will not move against them. But I cannot protect your precious mortals from themselves."

[vestige-nan]

Mannimarco/Vanus and Rada al-Saran/Verandis are the same relationship in different fonts

[nightingaletrash]

Speaking of Rada, I realise now that he completely shot himself in the foot in the end. Had he not left his trail for Verandis, we'd never have found his lab, figured out how to create the Keystone to Greyhaven, or have followed him there to stop the Darkstorm.

In the end, it's his pride coupled with his love for Verandis (or the idea/memory of him) that destroyed his plans. He thought he could win Verandis over and kill the Vestige. His pride demanded both of these things. But he didn't truly understand Verandis' reasons for refusing to commit to the cost, and he underestimated the Vestige's strength, and it was his undoing.

The man had his victory in the bag, it was all but assured... and he still lost because he just couldn't get over his ex.

[uesp]

"It truly is magnificent. I firmly believe that when the peace we both seek is realized, Grayhome will stand among the wonders of the world. It will be a beacon of hope for our kind and the mortals who serve us. A grand reminder that anything is possible with hard work and vision."

--Rada al-Saran

[skymagpie]

RADA AL-SARAN (AND VELRADA) FANDOM WHERE WERE YOU???

[soullessbullshit]

Eeze: Bwahaha! This city is ours! Flee to the south, puny humans, while your tears dot the snow! Hurry, before our dark master sucks the marrow from your very bones!

Rada: There will be no sucking of marrow. My mother taught me proper table manners.

[morhaerians]

Dark AU Fennorian: Gray Host

He looks fine in robes, doesn't he?

Rada al-Saran convinced him to side with his vampire and werewolf army. No one came to his aid when he was caught by the Gray Host. Broken, he still doubts whether his choice was right. But with each passing day, doubts inexorably melt away, and his “true” side (as he was convinced of) is slowly gaining the upper hand over him.

However, having accepted that he is indeed a monster, it even became... somehow easier for him to breathe.

[ancano]

ESO Sexyman Round 1 Final Results!

Well round one has come to a close! Under the cut is our results and I'll have the next round posted at some point today (as I have to get ready for work soon akfodkwj)

Rigurt the Brash / Revus Demnevanni

Elam Drals / Raynor Vanos

Sai Sahan / Rada Al-Saran

Razum-dar / Abnur Tharn

Xukas / Verandis Ravenwatch

High King Emeric / Fennorian

Leythen / Jakarn

Divayth Fyr / Za'ji

Canon Llevule / Sir Cadwell

Hircine / Kaalgrontiid

Mannimarco / Ritemaster Iachesis

Vivec / Tythis Andromo

Sotha Sil / Arkasis the Mad Alchemist

Bastian Hallix / Nahfahlaar

Darien Gautier / Valkyn Skoria

Neramo / Vanus Galerion

[heart-forge]

Do you think MCs can have a character arc?

yeah of course. there's different levels of it of course: in most, even high budget RPGs, that I play, the arc is like...self-driven, which isn't a flaw on the part of the RPG but a mechanical function. The game doesn't know anything about my MC but what I am able to tell it: I may answer questions, but I can never suggest connections. my ESO character is a redguard vampire who falls in love with, loses, and then resurrects verandis ravenwatch. the game can't make the connections between her and rada al-saran, that they're both redguards, that they're in love with the same man, that herai was changed at the spot where he was defeated which led him to become a vampire. a good story will allow for that kind of thing while purposely not imposing it: think of the difference between fallout new vegas, where your blank slate character is able to have whatever revelations you want based on the events of the game and can ben whoever you want them to have been before the events of the game, so long as at some point they delivered mail, versus fallout 4, where your cookie cutter mc is led to a specific ending meaning to evoke a particular set of emotions.

there's also like, specific games that guide your MC through such a thing, where things about your MC are revealed and you can then choose to build their story around these things. think about the mythic questline of wrath of the righteous: you pick the mythic powers that best represent you from a roleplaying perspective, you grow these powers, you can decide to believe they are from a particular source, you're called to react when it's revealed where the powers actually came from, and eventually you can choose to keep or discard those powers based on all the information you now know. this is an arc that's imposed upon your character—you can't decide to have never had powers and you can't decide where they came from—but you get to build your character within that storyline (perhaps again in contrast to fallout 4 where you are instructed as to how your character feels about particular events that happen to them regardless).

I think people tend to get a little unrealistic about how responsive a game should get to their specific character. I think, generally, that if such a thing is possible to be known by the game, that the game should invest in at least a passing acknowledgement of the fact (to say nothing of when a fact should be a huge deal: imagine being an alienage elf in dragon age and not being able to react to the alienage being purged as an insider). I think broad classes, player races, if they vary and especially if they're significant, they should be acknowledged. think adaar in DAI, where dialogue with bull had very little variation even though you were technically the same thing as him (which, based on particular kotaku expose pieces on bioware, seems to be time/budget restraints), versus something like vampire: the masquerade where the type of vampire you are can change how you're able to travel and if you can interact with particular npcs.

at the same time though, there's some stuff that's just too niche to acknowledge: like in my earlier ESO example, while the game can get a little egregious about acknowledging that you're a vampire/werewolf, of course I wouldn't expect them to know that my character is in love with Verandis Ravenwatch: there's not player/npc romance mechanic, and there's not even an npc affection mechanic. all it can know is that I've gone through the rivenspire questline by the time I start the dark heart of skyrim dlc, and on a meta level the writers know that verandis was a popular character and so most player will want to be able to be neutral-friendly with him. lots of people WANT to be able to acknowledge their favourite npcs, but think of the time, expense, and complications of adding a full scale affection-mechanic to a massive multiplayer game where you can't replay quests!

broadly, though, I think that a lot of the indie-type AAA knock offs (not IF as it's its own thing, but you know the type: the unity games made by one developer, the genre-knockoffs hosted on itch, etc etc) have the fundamental flaw of allowing for a blank slate character and....nothing else. I'd say for sure you can see it in a game like cyberpunk, where the studio has previously dealt with pre-built player characters like geralt whose personalities are already set in stone and just require tone decisions, versus their blank-slate V who has far too much independence from player tone decisions (MY V is certainly not such an indifferent, fame-hungry centrist) and yet doesn't hold any strong opinions about anything to avoid the narrative grinding to a halt every forty seconds to quiz V about how they feel about computers. there's a balance to be struck, and it's the mark of a good MC that the player can feel like they've grown or been through something !!