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...What? How did I... Where am I?
That smell... Am I in the sewers? How did I get here?
I remember being called to court... My father. That's right, my father sent word I was to attend a special session of the Imperial Court. I got the message late...nearly put the horse to death trying to make it in time. The guards...
It's hazy. Was I late?

Nine have mercy. Am I in prison?


Nothing but the clothes on my back. That bodes ill...No, thank Ysmir, my smallsword is still here. No Nord should die without weapon to hand!


What...a key? What luck! Perhaps I was only put down here as a slap on the wrist. Of course! A little lesson from my father.
Well, it's in poor taste! I was not meant for such poor conditions!
...Oh! Even now I hear a guard coming to let me out. Yes, as befits my...


What in...a goblin? Why- no matter. No goblin offers threat to Talin, son of Talin Warhaft!


Die!
crunch


How many are there? Maybe I should find a safer place to make my stand...


Shit


Shit


Shitshitshit-


With you died our last hope for justice. Tharn is now free to do as he will.
It saddens me to see the beautiful land of Tamriel rotting from within.
Goodbye, Talin. I wish you peace in the afterworld...

---


Welcome to Let's Play The Elder Scrolls: Arena!

You kids with your Saviors of Bruma and your Dovahkiins may not know this, but the Elder Scrolls series didn't just start at number 3! This is the first Elder Scrolls game, and while it didn't make everybody who worked on it rich household names overnight, it did establish Bethesda Softworks with a place in the hearts of many computer RPG fans with its release in 1994. With a huge world, a clever mouse/keyboard control system, tons of character options, and swords 'n' sorcery aplenty, it laid the foundation on which some of the best RPGs of all time were built. Also it's pretty fun, and if you want to play along it's available completely free on Bethesda's site. A little hunting around can also find you an install package with DOSBox included and ready to roll. Take a crack at it, it holds up surprisingly well.

Or just look at screenshots of me playing it for you, right here in this dang ol' thread

Okay, so what's the backstory? Who was that Nord Monk you got killed by rats?

Observe:






As with all Elder Scrolls games, the lore gets mucked up and confused and retconned a thousand times, but the important takeaways are these:
* Uriel Septim VII (not IV as in the above pic) and possibly his chief Guardsman Talin Warhaft have been dimension-rifted the hell out
* The Emperor's trusted battlemage Jagar Tharn has taken the throne and is impersonating the Emperor and also has a huge not-at-all phallic staff that might have been involved
* One of the few people who knows about this plan, Ria Silmane, got captured or worse before she could warn anybody
* Monsters and shit are everywhere, dang
* I guess [url=www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Hero]somebody[/url] whose destiny isn't written in the Elder Scrolls gotta save the day like always for the very first time

Talin might possibly be the canon name of the minor courtier who saves the day, and/or maybe his father's name. Anyway his destiny got all eaten up by rats, so now it's up to you fair goons to deliver me a great champion that can delve deep into dungeons, cast spells of unsurpassed might, swing mighty weapons...or at least sneak into a dude's house, jack his gold, and murder his pets. For the Emperor!

Are you gonna do your updates in-character like with Talin up there?
Nah, that seems like it wouldn't be much fun. I'll just talk about what we do, and maybe the character will chime in now and again. We'll see where it takes us.

Why does every LP start with these fake questions that nobody actually has asked yet?
INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR ANSWER

Updates:
Mechanics and Character Creation