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WiP Character Build: The True Believer

  • Member
    February 15, 2018
    My first WiP, so please be gentle! I do think she needs more background for motivation. I need a motivation for her to join the Dawnguard mostly so she can switch from the Bound Bow to Auriel's Bow. I will also be including the recommended Perks.
     
    Disclaimer: This build is inspired by FudgeMuppet's Thalmor Agent build.
     
    Background
     
    Born to an upper-class family in the Summerset Isles, her father was a loyal follower of the Thalmor and present when the Crystal Tower fell. The True Believer no longer exists to the Dominion. To her family and friends, she is nothing but a ghost. In truth and in secret, she has been trained to be a black ops agent since the end of the Great War.  Her sole purpose is to undermine the Empire. The events in Skyrim have finally provided the opportunity to strike.
     
    It seemed that the Eight had turned against her when, despite skill and training, she and her handler were captured by an Imperial ambush. She watched her handler fall to an Imperial blade and, numb with shock, allowed herself to be loaded onto a cart. The sharp pain of an Imperial gauntlet cracking against her skull knocked her out. Finally awake and groggy she discovered they were leagues from where they had crossed, and that she was sitting in cart with Stormcloaks on their way to the block. Decades of training and planning would be lost in a matter of hours.
     
    The unexpected appearance of a dragon leads her to believe that her purpose is not lost, and perhaps even had divine intervention to complete her mission. Though the ambush and subsequent dragon attack left her penniless and friendless, she has enough to begin her mission in Skyrim, even if it might take longer than she planned.
     
    As she continues to move through Skyrim, events unfold that lead her to believe she is blessed by the Divines, even as she continues to carry out her mission opposing the Empire.
     
    Race: High Elf
    Stone: The Lover/The Atronach
    Major Skills: Sneak, Archery, Destruction, One-handed
    Minor Skills: Conjuration, Enchanting
    Primary Weapons: Elven Dagger, Bound Sword, Bound Bow, Bound Dagger, Chain Lightning
    Armor: Thalmor Robes, Boots, Gloves; otherwise whatever helps blend into a guild or town. For example, DB armor when in the DB, regular clothes in towns and cities
    Enchantments: Fortify Archery, Fortify Destruction, Fortify One-Handed
    Essential Quests: Main Quest, Civil War, Dark Brotherhood, College of Winterhold
     
    Stats and Perks
     
    40% Health
    40% Magicka
    20% Stamina
     
     
     
    The Build
     
    It's no secret that playing a Thalmor offers some difficulty from a role-playing perspective. This build offers the opportunity to play a Lawful/Chaotic Evil character who believe he is acting with divine purpose. Sometimes it's fun to play the bad guy, and I hope that's what this build offers. 
     
    The result is a stealth/assassin character who makes use of Bound weapons, switching to Auriel's Bow after Dawnguard, and Destruction magic. This build does require some suspension of disbelief to build up the skill trees, after all, you're probably a bit shaken up what with almost losing your head and then a dragon showing up.
     
    Gameplay
     
    What I found in my RP is that using a secondary "dead" character necessitated that my True Believer conduct her own reconnaissance in part to build up the skill tree before diving into any of the guilds, the civil war, or the main quest. I followed the general guideline of the Grand Tour of Skyrim. (This is where The Lover stone is helpful, as you'll level quicker.) This gives the opportunity to scout Imperial and Stormcloak encampments, and assess guilds and troop strength in various cities. The idea here is that more legwork is required because she has to gather intelligence that would normally be provided by her handler. 
     
    The True Believer must be able to think and act independently, as her sole source of communication in Skyrim was killed. Even the Ambassador doesn't know she exists. There will be times when she will have to kill her fellow Thalmor to preserve her cover, but it will all be for a greater good. 
     
    The Civil War
     
    My recommendation is to begin the civil war on the side of the Imperials, picking up the piece of the Crown and then delivering it to the Stormcloaks. Your True Believer is gathering intelligence, in addition to what switching sides does to demoralize the Imperials. Whether or not to finish civil war questline is up to you, but if you do, side with the Stormcloaks. If you don't finish it, leave it at Season Unending. An unstable Skyrim is the best way to destabilize the Empire, and as long as the Imperials and Stormcloaks are killing each other, that's less for the Thalmor to have to conquer.
     
    The Main Quest
     
    Embrace the discovery that you are the Dragonborn! You have been blessed by Auriel to save the Nords in their own lands. Surely this is proof of Mer superiority.
     
    Guilds
     
    Dark Brotherhood
    This is essential to the roleplay. Not only is murdering civilians terrifying in its own right, but the end goal of the questline is right in line with the Thalmor goal of destabilizing the Empire.
     
    College of Winterhold
    This is a very secretive institution that isn't necessary to join, but is definitely worth infiltrating based solely on their secrecy. Add in the Ancano factor, and you've got a potential wild card to track. 
     
    Thieves Guild
    The best bet with this guild is to only complete Vex and Devin's quests. Not only are you building a network of contacts and potential spies, but you're improving your thieving skills along the way. In addition, the contract you are forced to make with Nocturnal is in opposition to your worship of the Aedra. 
     
    Companions
    Best left avoided, as there is no in-game reason to join. The only reason I can think of to join is to have a powerful Nord weapon in Thalmor hands, but that seems to be a stretch since your character doesn't know that before joining.
     
    Recommended Mods
     
    Take Notes
    The Lofty Loft (A Thalmor-themed player home. I RP that it was originally intended for my handler, but since he died it's mine now.)
  • Member
    February 15, 2018

    Hey congrats on jumping into the character builds fray! I can tell you put alot of work into this so far. I like what you're going for with this build.

    What really helped me with my first build was taking inspiration from all the amazing builds on this site. Very useful for ideas with organizing everything, making it look amazing, and easy to read. 

  • Member
    February 15, 2018

    It could do with a list of important skills, perks taken, and gameplay/combat styles. Also pictures, but important things first.

  • February 15, 2018

    This reminds me of my Agents of Oegnithr build. Interesting to see where you go with this. 

  • February 15, 2018

    Looking pretty good so far Monica, the only quick things that I'd recommend would be moving the Stats and Mods sections up a bit higher. Might work pretty well to move the Stats section up a little higher, where you've got Races and all. Uh, yeah the only other thing that I can recommend at the moment would be what Soly mentioned and working on the perks/skills section. 

    But looking good, looking really good. 

  • Member
    February 15, 2018

    Thanks for the positive feedback, all! I've moved the Perks higher and even made an image! More images to come, but I'm still trying to nail down the meat of the character.

  • Member
    February 15, 2018

    The name made me think of Stan Lee!

  • February 15, 2018

    Let me know when you're on to Presentation and I'll offer a bit more feedback for that specifically. Would rather wait to see the rest of the content first though if your still getting the meat up :D

  • Member
    February 18, 2018

    All looking good to me, Monica. Looking forward to the RP section being up, there better be loads of good stuff in there after your discusion!

  • Member
    February 18, 2018

    So far it looks like I'm going to be leaning very heavily on The Monomyth for RP. Specifically the Altmeri creation myth:

    "But this was a trick. As Lorkhan knew, this world contained more limitations than not and was therefore hardly a thing of Anu at all. Mundus was the House of Sithis. As their aspects began to die off, many of the et'Ada vanished completely. Some escaped, like Magnus, and that is why there are no limitations to magic. Others, like Y'ffre, transformed themselves into the Ehlnofey, the Earthbones, so that the whole world might not die. Some had to marry and make children just to last. Each generation was weaker than the last, and soon there were Aldmer. Darkness caved in. Lorkhan made armies out of the weakest souls and named them Men, and they brought Sithis into every quarter.

    Auriel pleaded with Anu to take them back, but he had already filled their places with something else. But his soul was gentler and granted Auriel his Bow and Shield, so that he might save the Aldmer from the hordes of Men. Some had already fallen, like the Chimer, who listened to tainted et'Ada, and others, like the Bosmer, had soiled Time's line by taking Mannish wives.

    Auriel could not save Altmora, the Elder Wood, and it was lost to Men. They were chased south and east to Old Ehlnofey, and Lorkhan was close behind. He shattered that land into many. Finally Trinimac, Auriel's greatest knight, knocked Lorkhan down in front of his army and reached in with more than hands to take his Heart. He was undone. The Men dragged Lorkhan's body away and swore blood vengeance on the heirs of Auriel for all time.

    But when Trinimac and Auriel tried to destroy the Heart of Lorkhan it laughed at them. It said, 'This Heart is the heart of the world, for one was made to satisfy the other.' So Auriel fastened the thing to an arrow and let it fly long into the sea, where no aspect of the new world may ever find it."

    This is more than enough to believe in Elven superiority and to believe that Man is simply lesser because they exist at all. Man is the embodiment of Lorkhan's limitation and has corrupted Mundus. There's also an interesting Auriel perspective here, in that he tried to save the Mer but couldn't. As the Dragonborn, a Thalmor could quite easily see themselves as chosen by Auriel.

    I'm also trying to take as much as I can from the Piecing Together the Thalmor lore thread, such as: "In the most basic way possible, the Thalmor want to prove Mer cultural superiority over the Imperial human superiority that has been rampant since the 1st era. This doesn't mean humans are bad or unwelcome, it doesn't mean purification by ethnic cleansing or some other matter like that, it means that they intend to prove that they were right and destroy the brutal Imperialistic culture surrounding humanity."

    Trying to find specific quests to aid the Thalmor cause are few and far between, with Search and Seizure being really the only one. So far I only have some idea of how to play out certain quests, so please steer me in the right direction of there are some things that are just not possible. Some creative RP is required, like killing Malborn in Windhelm after killing his assassin. Delphine and Esbern are marked as Essential, but I don't know if they remain Essential after the main quest. If they are not Essential, then killing them would be a priority. And killing Paarthanux will let you retain access to the Blades. Joining the Dawnguard and siding with the Dawnguard is important. You'll not only help cleanse Skyrim of a vampire threat, but you'll get Auriel's Bow. Serana's presence is an unfortunate necessity, and getting her to cure herself is also a necessity.

    I realize that a lot of this is a bit scattershot right now, but I do feel like I'm slowly piecing her together. Thougths and comments are welcome.