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dagas_isaMy story:
The Final Confession of Shabhira Moons Stalker (4946 words) by
dagas isa
Fandom: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Characters
Summary:
My recipient had requested worldbuilding fic centered around the 200 years between the end of Oblivion and the start of Skyrim, particularly around the Thalmor's rise to power.
Though, I wanted to use the Thalmor's rise to power from a starting point, I didn't want to touch the Great War or the bloodier aspects of their ascension leading up to it. The angle that caught my eye was the part in The Great War" that talked about how the Thalmor gained influence in Elsweyr. I knew I wanted to use it somewhere, either as the main story (which is how I did use it) or as an example of the Thalmor's propaganda efforts, quite whimsically as a contest to see who could come up with the best stories.
I also wanted to write a story that could be added into the game through mods, both as a book, and also as a potential quest. So I wanted the story to fit in with the style and tone of canon as well as the content itself being somewhat canon-compliant. I think it makes sense as a book, but I'd have probably changed a few details to make it more quest-fodder, for example having the main character exiled to Skyrim rather than imprisoned in Elsweyr to make it possible to create a quest based on this story once the Skyrim construction kit comes out.
About the story itself, the construction of the main character seemed fairly obvious. I wanted a Khajiit, since this would be a story about Elsweyr and Khajiit, and I wanted her to be someone who would also have the background to understand the Thalmor tricks (and yes, I decided it would be a scam, even though this is left open to interpretation). I will say that in the first draft, I actually had the main character taking a less active role and being more of a spectator to the Thalmor while they independently researched the problem.
What happened in the first draft was that the key scenes really became a letdown, since the viewpoint character was uninvolved in the procedings and angry at being outsmarted, but otherwise had no real reason to stop it or to expose the scam for what it was. So it was just build up and panic followed by a "Oh well, what can I do? *shrug* Here's my story."
So, I ended up using that apathy but changing one circumstance to make her a key player in the scam rather than a spectator and ineffective obstacle. The main character was still apolitical, but she was aware enough of what the Thalmor were trying to do to actually become part of the conspiracy, and that actually made the story come together so much more coherently, at the cost of just a slight amount of character development. I think the change ended up being worth it.
The Final Confession of Shabhira Moons Stalker (4946 words) by
Fandom: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Characters
Summary:
Any war between the Thalmor and the Imperials over the kingdoms of Elsweyr would leave many Khajiit dead unless there was a way to effectively give one side such an overwhelming advantage that a war could be won without a single arrow being fired in its name.
The Thalmor had shown me the linchpin that fastened Elsweyr to the empire. And so, I pulled it.
My recipient had requested worldbuilding fic centered around the 200 years between the end of Oblivion and the start of Skyrim, particularly around the Thalmor's rise to power.
Though, I wanted to use the Thalmor's rise to power from a starting point, I didn't want to touch the Great War or the bloodier aspects of their ascension leading up to it. The angle that caught my eye was the part in The Great War" that talked about how the Thalmor gained influence in Elsweyr. I knew I wanted to use it somewhere, either as the main story (which is how I did use it) or as an example of the Thalmor's propaganda efforts, quite whimsically as a contest to see who could come up with the best stories.
I also wanted to write a story that could be added into the game through mods, both as a book, and also as a potential quest. So I wanted the story to fit in with the style and tone of canon as well as the content itself being somewhat canon-compliant. I think it makes sense as a book, but I'd have probably changed a few details to make it more quest-fodder, for example having the main character exiled to Skyrim rather than imprisoned in Elsweyr to make it possible to create a quest based on this story once the Skyrim construction kit comes out.
About the story itself, the construction of the main character seemed fairly obvious. I wanted a Khajiit, since this would be a story about Elsweyr and Khajiit, and I wanted her to be someone who would also have the background to understand the Thalmor tricks (and yes, I decided it would be a scam, even though this is left open to interpretation). I will say that in the first draft, I actually had the main character taking a less active role and being more of a spectator to the Thalmor while they independently researched the problem.
What happened in the first draft was that the key scenes really became a letdown, since the viewpoint character was uninvolved in the procedings and angry at being outsmarted, but otherwise had no real reason to stop it or to expose the scam for what it was. So it was just build up and panic followed by a "Oh well, what can I do? *shrug* Here's my story."
So, I ended up using that apathy but changing one circumstance to make her a key player in the scam rather than a spectator and ineffective obstacle. The main character was still apolitical, but she was aware enough of what the Thalmor were trying to do to actually become part of the conspiracy, and that actually made the story come together so much more coherently, at the cost of just a slight amount of character development. I think the change ended up being worth it.
