[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, all those kinds of dynamic things would be really cool. Hard to pull off and you don't necessarily, you're not going to have necessarily the same intricacy that it has in the middle earth games, but still it's like a, it's a nice concept to play with at least.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The concept's interesting, I don't know if I would have like the full Pokemon set up, like the arrow here expands. Yeah, well like that's just an aesthetic thing, but you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, no, it could be cool to just do what I think in the actual game, like I can imagine it-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If I was to run with this idea fitting in high rock pretty well, obviously and the whole like, you know, find a hill and become a king type attitude. If it was some super war torn, um, province, you know, at the time that you're playing like extra war torn and you can actually join or lead, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A kingdom or a group of knights or something like that and actually kind of like take over places and then have a recruiting feature if you desire or maybe you just meet people while doing quests.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you can see that perhaps this person would be, like, they could be set piece people, like, oh, this person, they don't look extremely sold on their king's cause. Perhaps if I do some quest or help them, I can actually get them to switch sides or sympathize with us.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and then they'll actually be on your side in an upcoming siege or something like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I kinda don't want it, to be honest. Like, well, at least what I want is this, cause we all know the problem with Fallout 4 that happened with settlements, right? Like, the fact that it took over the map to such an extent


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And this may sound counterintuitive, but it's almost like, design the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As if settlement building is not in it. So, you know, in the same way Skyrim was made, then...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, and then, you know, I probably, I mean, I don't really mind. I, I didn't particularly love settlement building. So there's a disclaimer from me, like even just the actual act of doing it. I would rather it be more like a.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Very expanded hearthfire, where there's a lot of customization in kind of, uh, what you're building, but it's not like, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pay for, pay for a thing or pay for the materials and just press a button and it pops into place. I don't want the whole, let's scrap this Daedric sword and harvest these three materials from it and then.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And to be fair, that even, sorry to interrupt, but even though I agree that it became a chore, that's even in a game where it's meant to fit the theme, like post-apocalyptic, like, oh, I'm building things from scraps. That's, that's in the vibe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But again, it's almost like I said, don't even predetermine them when you're building the game. Find spots for them after. So that it, I want the game to feel like you could play it without touching that and everything would feel just as unique and special as any other Elder Scrolls game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I guess anything's better than the pack meal system we saw in Skyrim. I guess the general gist of it is just reducing the number of companions and massively enhancing the quality of those companions. I mean, you know, there's no reason why they couldn't just keep some bland mercenary type pay 500 gold companions around the place who kind of are more like Skyrim or they.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Have, you know, a little line about backstory in that, but I just think having that cast of maybe ten companions who are all really, really good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You can almost tell them, you know, play defensive, play act, fight offensive, fight defensive or if they're a mage, you know, act like a support role. So they'll cast healing spells or some kind of rally spells on you as you fight and all those things or, you know, attack on site or don't attack on site until I attack.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, well, I have another radical idea if you'd like to move on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, it's not going to be radical to you two, but it might be radical to some of the people listening. Uhm, as we know, Elder Scrolls games have a level by doing system. So you do an action, you use a skill and you get better at it. And then in the case of Skyrim, you could pick perks from that based on your skill level that you've acquired in an immersive way, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What if Elder Scrolls had a fallout leveling system?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where you actually level your skills by allocating skill points each time you level up, which also allows you to a, perhaps not force, uh, certain skill activities that don't make sense or you have to grind up, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And yeaah, I mean, you get what I'm saying, right? Like the Fallout leveling system, we actually like it. I also like level by doing, uhm, for Elder Scrolls, I would not want level by doing in Fallout. Uhm, but let's just pose this idea, Fallout leveling system.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I disagree with the idea, cause a lot of people hear people like, you know, that opinion and they say, oh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You could make science, like, level by doing, just add these other applications. I just think it gets complicated. I think it's much better in Fallout, like you're saying, to have these skills that just, like, survival. I don't wanna sit there and, I don't know, cook meat.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I want to be a survival master. So in three levels, I'll be level three. I just allocated all these points into survival. So, you know, I may be under leveled at that level and all other skills, but man, do I know survival, for example.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, it allows you to specialize in a way that kind of helps role playing and if anything,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, specialize in a way that gets you quicker to a point that can make sense with a larger variety of backstories. Like if you want a roleplay that you've always been like a really skilled knight, you can quickly, like say by like a few levels in,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Have a pretty damn respectable one handed skill. Yeaah. If you want to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was, I was about to say speech is actually one in Elder Scrolls that would benefit. For sure. But that's the thing, you wouldn't want to overhaul the whole system just to make speech seem a bit


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Selling things and then occasionally had chances to use that dialogue, but I mean, we've talked about the problems with speech before in a video on the channel.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the way it was structured even then was poor. Like there weren't that many opportunities or by the time you would get say 75 in the speech skill, like you've missed opportunities where they could be used or they're just not that useful. Like all kinds of things like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It could have been like just a childhood thing, like way more curiosity, but I know that in Oblivion, I just went into way more houses than I did.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In Skyrim, probably because as a kid, you're not really aware of how games are built. So you're thinking like, what if there's a unique treasure in so and so's house in bruma? And it's like, there's not, and you know, there's not when you're playing Skyrim, you know, it will just be another generic house with a bed in the bottom and.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you know, not all that much stuff. You still explore it, but the, I guess the urgency compared to when I was younger isn't just, just not there. But anyway, back to the idea of your character changing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't mind it as far as like the small things go, like you know, beard growth, hair growth, things like that. But I suppose when you start getting into like the...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For Zeke changing things to a drastic extent and like aging and things like that, you really have to consider the time scale of the game and it becomes a bit silly if, you know, in game last week you were scrawny and then this week you're massive.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I guess, I guess, sorry, my point there is more like as well with the muscle growth stuff. You can have it, but a little goes a long way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, uh, cause I think a lot of people think of it very cartoony, like I'm gonna start off scrawny and then I'm gonna look like Ronnie Coleman when I have, you know, 80 in one handed. You can pick your muscle thing at the start perhaps and even look big and strong and, and not-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Necessarily be like, uh, cause I want a lot of full body customization. I just want every character to be able to look even NPCs a certain way without necessarily needing skills or attributes to back that just for a pure character display perspective, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I, I just think it's still worth it if your muscle character gets, you know, a bit more ripped or a bit more, like, more detailed in certain aspects. So you can look at them and go, oh, actually I look, I look stronger, but it's not like, oh, I just grew bolder shoulders out of nowhere from being nothing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But you can start as that and then just develop some more definition and like, you know, more powerful looking forearms. Like, you know the difference as well between size and...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just what you think of when I say powerful physique or athletic physique. Like obviously they're all. But at the end of the day, I don't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A lot of people take it too far. It's the same way they do it with morality. Like, um, like when you look in fable, when you like get evil and you look a bit more aged and or in mass effect where you start getting like the, you look like a planet that's about to explode. All the red lines.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which I like more as well. Cause otherwise you start, you know, casting a set moral lens on everything. Like, oh, this NPC in the city has horns, he must have done bad things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I know, I even didn't like as much as I can enjoy aspects of it in New Vegas. There are also massive aspects I don't like. Like, as much as like, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know. Obviously, I guess, yeaah, it's hard to argue that factions like Caesar's Legion are good, but like if you wanted to ideologically


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just pure reputation systems, or like they have shown in Elder Scrolls, have the gods decide a bit perhaps. You know, if you have done, quote, evil things, maybe some aedra won't let you pray at their shrine. Like stuff like that, they can decide, but yeah, definitely not a huge fan of like karma point systems.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] People forget, uhm, and it obviously doesn't justify anything, but people forget just the basic role-playing environment that so many characters in a game world


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or a real world and throughout history, they are products of their environment. Uhm, I think that's easy to forget.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It also depends on your build too, like it would annoy me if I was trying to play some, cause look, let's, let's face it, you can't avoid taking damage in the Elder Scrolls. It is very much like a, you kill people and there's enemies to fight and slay and you, whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it would annoy me to be playing a character who is meant to look like, say you make some beautiful...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're always getting smashed down to low HP, you know what I mean?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or even, or yeaah, or even you get hit by a fireball and then you get covered in burn scars and it just gets complicated, I guess is my, is my point. But I mean, this is the video to, uh, discuss all ideas.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's something that you didn't actually see in Skyrim, uh, which was a feature in, like before, which was hair length. So you'd actually pick a style and then change the length. And, like, I mean, you could start the game with short hair and then, like, cause that,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That ability to have length as like a system in the game then makes sense with the hair cutting system. Because it would just fulfill that kind of slider bar.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or even if you just wanted to roleplay characters that, uhm, are misleading in how they look. Cause sometimes that's cool, like, well this character doesn't look particularly strong, but he is. You know, like, things like that. But I guess we could move on to some more radical ideas if you two have any suggestions. I know, Drew, you've got lots.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hey, we should actually do probably two podcasts for this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I guess my thoughts on it, like, I mean, obviously,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm happy without it, but my, my general thoughts on it is considering the trade off of like, okay, what does that really add to an Elder Scrolls experience? So you have to think like, is it like, if you wanted to make things more difficult or add more.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I suppose that sounds way more approachable now after hearing it kind of like a lore rationalization. Although to be fair, I don't know why a band would knock you out. Like they probably would just kill you and take it. Like, there's not a huge demand.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It does sound like you'd be almost screwed though in some circumstances, like, for a lot of characters.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who put, like, particularly warriors who don't have magic, they put a lot of time and effort into getting, like, the good gear.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, like stock up on poisons and potions and like really plan it all out. As long as there's a map marker on them as well, I wouldn't want to have to go and find them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, but you can also just load back your save, whereas, which heaps of people would do that, I don't know that many people, they say they will, I feel like a lot of roleplaying people, I mean, us included as roleplaying people, but they, they say, uhm, oh, I would never reload saves, and it's like mate, 70%.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I guess the problem with that, sorry, is that then he wouldn't be one of the proper, like, Fallout 4 style.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Overhaul. Which we'd kind of expect though anyway. Which we'll surely, yeah. But I mean, I did, I did talk about this in a video once where I talked about the climbing skill. Like, because I, you know, bringing a climbing skill in, it just, you have to build the whole game around it. You need more verticality. It could be really cool.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, and just the way that, you know, like if you look at a game like Assassin's Creed, movement is, or at least it was, one of the main appeals. Um, whereas in an Elder Scrolls world, you would have to design every city and every, even every quest to be climbed in, in a way that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, for example, the fact that you can't just climb over the Imperial City wall.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I guess the thing is as well, it's like if Bethesda could pull it off in a flawless way,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I wouldn't necessarily be against it. I'm not like, oh, it's terrible. I'm just like, I feel like a lot of design decisions have to revolve around the climbing aspect. And I think that a lot of locations can kind of be abused. Um, like I said, for quests, but even just think of like locations that exist in Skyrim. Imagine you go to Valheim Towers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's that, uhm, bandit down the bottom who asks you for gold. You say no, you kill them, and then you climb up the wall all the way, just climbing, uh, Assassin's Creed style to the top and kill the archer there. It prevents you from having to, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or just, I think not even accessible, like I feel like some surfaces then, like Valheim Towers is what I'm thinking, it's like kind of smooth and not easy to climb.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That, that's my point, is that it's like, like if you want to have a quest that, you know, ends at Bardleap, um, Bardleap Summit, that, a place like that, if you want to have that, and then that is only accessible once you've made your way through the dungeon and come out a certain door, other players would just climb up to the end of a quest area and like, get caught.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I get the appeal for sure. I guess a lot of attention to detail then has to go into making sure that some quests aren't just completely abusable or broken or location accessed and just, you know, that's a bit...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then you've got to consider perks too, like would it really be worth investing 13 perks into a climbing skill versus like any other skill with more advantage?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I'll also say Assassin's Creed climbing, as everyone knows, is extremely unrealistic and far-fetched. Um, and putting it into an Elder Scrolls game could feel a bit... He's saying that when they build...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I suppose as I said in the video where I was talking about it, I'm not against it on like an idealistic


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think it's worth it, but I think it's cool.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But like, I understand, like, Slowfall's fine, but I understand why Levitate isn't there. Like, it makes sense to me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That stuff's alright. That stuff's alright. Like I wouldn't want every cave to be like super super pitch black, but- Like maybe caves-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think we can all agree that like darkening caves, like some mods do now, like we have some of these mods ourselves is a cool idea.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But uhm, on the topic of climbing, I was just, more things were popping in my head of like, issue areas, but like, imagine Skyrim and it's like, oh, you can't access the College of Winterhold and let's assume the entrance test is actually like, not silly.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's not that much point in like, like, imagine you're in Riften and you can climb. Like, what are you gonna do? Just walk on the roofs of the houses like you used to do in Oblivion with acrobatics, which is like jumping on the top.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But you know what I mean, like, imagine doing it in Whiterun. Like, okay, I'm climbing on these houses, styled like this. Yeah, of course.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But even then, that's what I just thought of, in Novigrad there are locations that you cannot go in because they're run by these, these gangs and they're very mysterious and if you go in there you'll be, uhm, like prevented from doing so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But some are like reveal places. I know this isn't with witchers specifically, but some of those places and set rooms would have very uhm, let's say disturbing sites that you weren't meant to access until the quest.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you, do you, do you have any other radical ideas or do you think we should do another podcast with more radical ideas? The rest of mine are half baked. Cause I think I've, I've got enough for a whole other podcast.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It limits roleplaying for other classes anyway, like for example, instead of lockpicking open a chest, you just smash it to pieces and get the stuff out of there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, a small amount is okay, particularly if it's restricted to player activity only, but I guess the difference between, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like even Skyrim vs Morrowind is that the NPCs and the world in general becomes more radiant.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So a great example is in Skyrim you have dragons who fly around and they can even kill NPCs in towns. So imagine you are at a bandit fort and to get across to where you need to go for quests there's like a wooden bridge that you have to walk along. Dragon flies past, fire breath burns it to a crisp, you can't get there anymore. Like it-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It can get tricky when other NPCs or even, forget dragons, but a mage casts a fireball at you and it misses, but it ruins some structure behind you that you need to walk across or, you know, like, it gets tricky.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For sure, cause that's the thing as well, like I look back at some of uh, the older videos we made about Elder Scrolls 6 ideas.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Actually seem much more plausible in 2021 than they did in even 2018 or 2019.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a classic, there's no stupid questions, but like that attitude, just put all kinds of stuff down there and we can do other episodes like this one if you liked it or if you didn't like it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let us know. If you didn't like it, just give the video a like. All comments boosts the video, supposedly. Who really knows how the algorithm works?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thank you for watching, social media links are in the description, as is the link to our merch. Now Patreon, if you wanna help support the channel, uh, you can subscribe if you haven't already, although I assume if you're listening at this stage you probably have.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And we all look forward to nerding out with you again very soon.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, in terms of their superiority, they kind of do have a leg to stand on in terms of just raw biology, at least. Like, if you were gonna pick a race to be in the Elder Scrolls universe, you can't go too wrong picking a race that can live for hundreds of years with, you know, magical prowess. Uhm, and, and, and- Actually, even-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Weaknesses basically to all magic, uhm, more so fire and just base magicka than to shock and frost. Uhm, and then obviously they can resist disease though and have way more just base magicka to use. Like the apprentice, uhm, apprentice stone, right? Yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's funny because in Daggerfall they had like a, their special advantage, it was called, was an immunity to paralysis. Which, which is kind of interesting. And I know it, then it just got watered down afterwards in, in Oblivion and Skyrim. Um, although Oblivion was still pretty, pretty solid.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was just gonna say, like, Oblivion still had some, some, uh, some cool effects. Like, they had, uhm, disease resistance, enhanced Magikar, weakness to Magikar.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Especially with an Australian accent. It's hard to hear. But we've got Oldmer with a D and Ultmer with a T. The T being the higher.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is a bit funny though, isn't it, that they just pick the most powerful ones and then they go, these are our ancestors, but then kind of brush away all their other ancestors who would be less powerful and less interesting.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But you know, just the same, their ancestors. So it's like curating a pantheon of your, your favorite kind of characters or entities. And then saying, oh, that's our pantheon and all of them are my ancestors and not bringing up the other ones. It's just like, okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This may feel a little bit off topic, but it is funny to think just how important genetics would be to them in the sense of the raw advantage that it gives them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because we can assume that some would have an even bigger natural affinity for magic than others, right? And as we know, magic can help you live a really long time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So if you kind of breed with the right person, your child may live.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] 500 years versus 250 years, right? And if you keep having the, those with the highest magical prowess come together, then you will just end up having the most powerful families as well because you live for longer, so you have more time to grow wealth and practice different things and become more intelligent.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Man, they would have a massive divide of inequality if you think about it. It's like pretty OP because it's not just based on nothing. And I'm not saying they pick their partners based purely on magical prowess, but you can see how that would play an impact somewhere.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's kind of like uhm, it's all based on relativity, I guess. It kind of reminds me of, like, nowadays, where people from, uhm, countries with stronger currencies can move to a country that has a weaker one, like, let's say someone from the US moving to Thailand.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And suddenly with what would be an average income in their country, uh, they're like a king in terms of what they can buy, what they can afford. It's not like, it's kind of like that. If you think about it, you would move somewhere safe in the Somerset Isles. You're a very average mage. And then suddenly, oh, you're a good mage here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you've been living for longer than everyone else, so people see you as really wise and-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But that's not to say all high elves live a really long time. I mean, obviously we know that's not the case just based on the dialogue. You would, you would encounter more high elves referencing like different time periods. Um, if it was super, super common to live for, you know, six or 700 years.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I suppose, I suppose it could be just a story about one group of high elves then applied to all of them in the pocket guide.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, like it sounds like something the nobility would do, but like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I guess it all kind of drives home the point of just how xenophobic and snobbish they can seem to the other races of Tamriel, because you can imagine just how snobbish they would be to their own kind, based on a caste system.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So if they think that, you know, if the highest of the high elves think that some of the lower class are nothing or like, you know, worthless to them, what are they going to think of an Argonian or a Khajiit when they travel to other provinces?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There is no way that I could imagine being confident in forming a pact like the Old Mirri Dominion with the High Elves, let alone the Thalmor, uhm, knowing that they look down on their own kind as well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, you can see why they try and ally with the Bozma who have the most populous race of elves. Uhm, and the Khajiit as well help bolster the numbers as well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Their hierarchy. So it says at the top of the wise. Okay. Teachers and priests.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like above, you know merchants and other things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They do have two of the most nimble, uh, races who would be the most useful for being assassins and thieves and spies and stuff. And then they don't, well, obviously warriors are very useful, but they don't really need, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wario-centric race because they have a lot of offensive capabilities in their own way with magic and, um, other things. Obviously, nimble fighters are still effective fighters too, in the case of the Bosmer and the Khajiit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Another thing to consider as well is it kind of fills the gap that magic doesn't. So if you think about pure warrior or strength or kind of tank capabilities in a war or a battle, uhm, the Thalmor do have magic and as much as they're not the biggest fans of, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like necromancy and stuff. You can imagine Daedra- I mean, we know about Lord Narifin and all that jazz, which you know, it's not my most favourite thing, but I guess it's still canon. But uhm, you could have mages summoning things as well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Black Marsh isn't something that really needs to be conquered too. So it's not like they don't have a grip on the bottom right hand of the continent. It's more like that doesn't really exist. Um, until the Argonians cause a problem and Morrowind's been, you know, had a lot of chaos with Red Mountain and whatnot. So.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, they kind of have a lot of useful territory if they, if they did


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I guess it also depends on if you wanna repair it as well. Like it depends on the priorities too. Obviously they have the capabilities to repair everything in like a couple of years if they want to. But it's like, is it feasible? Is it worth doing now or should they do something else?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was going to say, Altmer are quite a straightforward race. I was just thinking back to when we did our podcast on our top 10 favorite races, uh, based on


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because it's funny, there's a massive distinction between races that I love the lore of and races that I love to play. Like for example, Hylf is a race that I love to play and I played as my second character in Skyrim.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, was a high elf who had, it sounds really funny, but I thought it was really cool at the time. It was like full muscle, um, high elf wearing like the topless fur.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So like, but then using lightning magic. So you can imagine a real like, you know how the four sworn mages have this like arcane bandit feel.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah. It was kinda like that. I think I even remember. Yeah, it was on the Xbox 360.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You might find as well, and I mean, you see it, not every high elf you meet in Skyrim, for example, is particularly snobby. I mean, a lot of them are, but plenty of them aren't. You can imagine that it's kind of like the orcs, where you have the orcs in the stronghold and then the ones that leave get called the city orcs and they're kind of...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But they're not about the stronghold lifestyle, right?


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[Assistant] Whereas the high elves who leave as well, you can imagine, I just want to go be a merchant in High Rock and that's it. And where they are, their job might not be respected, but...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You would find that a lot of the ones that stay are the ones that like it. Uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the ones that don't like it would leave. Cause it's quite easy to leave, it seems. It's not like, especially as Ohio, like there's plenty of places you can go. And you have options. Yeah, that's what I'm saying.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But what if you were gonna be the king or like high class in Somerset Isles?


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[Assistant] I can imagine as well being an Ultima 2 when we were talking about being like in the higher class and it being boring. In the Elder Scrolls universe,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Magic is real and I just can't imagine that the pull to politics and wealth


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Would be nearly as interesting. I know it's all relative and when you get there you might be like, uh, magic. But I'd much rather be sleeping in some bunk bed in a mage's guild, you know, eating basic food, and nobody knows who I am. But I'm learning to, I don't know, summon literal, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That sounds much more appealing to me. It's kinda like that thing of like getting superpowers would just make you not really care about


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Some of the more mortal, boring trappings of life.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean maybe some did, you'd never, you'd never know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's like the Deidre was more like their hedonism and their fun, not their- not their religion.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That was my thoughts entirely, like SijicOrder gets a podcast kind of vibe.


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[Assistant] Alright, well, thank you ladies and gentlemen for tuning in to the Elder Scrolls podcast. We will see you next week. Adios.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Have you, do you know of the, uh, Spider-Kith? Have you heard of the Spider-Kith? Have you heard of the Spider-Kith?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, Khajiit are obviously cat people, uh, they're obviously bipedal, so they walk on two feet. Although there are lots of different breeds, or there's this other word, fur stocks, of Khajiit. So there's all different kinds, some walk around on four legs, like a sabre cat.


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[Assistant] Uhm, they're quite nimble and agile and they have somewhat of a bad reputation, I would say, across the other provinces of Tamriel for being thieves and sneaky people who, you know, you shouldn't trust.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, within their own province, obviously those stereotypes aren't a problem. Outside of that, they do tend to be. Uhm, but those fears do come from somewhere, which is their innate natural talent for those things, their muffled footsteps.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who follow Daedra, which can also be considered weird to many other cultures. You know, if you go to Cyrodiil and you say, hey, I worship Azura. Well, that's more of a tame Daedra.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I guess I should say as well, yeaah, it does depend on what time period you're looking at when you look at the perception of Khajiit, but I wouldn't say it's that much better by the time of Skyrim.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is, it is well built, and there is another example of why they don't have the best reputation, which is skooma. So moonsugar is a huge part of their culture, and they can tolerate it a lot better than the other races. When moonsugar gets refined into skooma,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, and then basically what happens is it gets transported to other provinces as a kind of black market good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that leads a lot of people to ruin, or as they say, to stray from the path, which is a big part of their culture, you know? And there's, like the Dunmer, funnily enough, they have these kind of testing gods and spirits who try and drag them off that path.


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[Assistant] Well, that's, that's what's interesting when you consider kind of like really old


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Almost Dawn era type stuff, but when you hear of Wood Elves constantly shi-shifting form, like their Wild Hunt power, like they can't really control it. They're just changing back and forth from Elves to different animals and stuff. And then at some point, uhm, Ifri taught them how to retain their Wood Elf form and keep it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They're not bad ones. Cause I mean, they do the same thing with Morrowind, right? Like they have the, the Khajiit there with the beast feet who couldn't wear, you know, armored boots. Instead they just become a different breed of Khajiit. And it makes sense.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, that's a lot. I'd say they have some of the most lore out of all of the races next to Dunmo. Because of Elder Scrolls Online, they have so much lore, so we'll never be able to cover all of it in one podcast without that podcast being three hours long.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One of the most emasculating positions to be in. Like seriously, because there's this one quote about the Afik, which obviously because they just look like a house cat, is it says they can't put their own clothes on. So sometimes, but they, you know, they still wear outfits. So it's like, oh, they'll have someone else help them and put their outfit on. Like they just feel so like, like imagine.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They, they, I guess they can be, but I mean there are other Khajiit obviously like the clan mothers and like anyone else related to religion who would also have if not more reverence and, well obviously more reverence and respect and talk about teachings and things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, kitten, and then, after a few weeks you can tell, ah, this is gonna be a sentra. Wow, I can't believe you pushed that out, but, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Absolutely. Our feet are used to spy and infiltrate in other provinces because they look like a cat and a lot of the law that you talk about in The Elder Scrolls, you take it for granted, but it's not known in other provinces. It's not known by commoners.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So they can go to other provinces. I mean, to be fair as well, you can't distinguish them really from a normal cat. Particularly, obviously, if they're not wearing clothes, if they come over and they're wearing some golden hat, then sure. But if they're just sneaking around nobility, they'd be extremely good spies. Another reason why you can see that people don't trust them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and they don't even talk in the presence of outsiders because they just don't want to deal with the hassle. Uhm, and kind of, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Have you seen the concept art for that? The concept art of the main is really, really cool. They used to carry the main around on one of those, it has a fancy name, but one of those podiums where everyone carries kind of like a corner that they used to put like, you know, keys and stuff on. But now they don't do that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was under the impression he was, um, that was talking about the two different sides of elsewhere, like Palentine and as they pronounce it in Elder Scrolls Online, which I don't particularly like, but it is what it is, Anequina.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, instead of aniquina, which I was always saying beforehand, or anikina, it's anekwina.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For most of the NPCs, don't get me wrong, there are some NPCs who say kind of like Anequina, but others go Anequina.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A rediscovery. I always saw this Ridthar Radada kind of guy as, in a way, similar to Alicia, in some ways, kind of like with this, uhm, leading to, like, Riddle-Thar and the whole new pantheon of gods.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just, just in the sense that like, it was kind of like doing away with the old and then you bring in the new and there's Alkosh and like all your other ones gain more importance and.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah. Well, they did go into the confederacies when they were all, you know, one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then that gets broken up again when the Thalmor kind of come in and bring back the two moons which disappear later in the fourth era and take credit for it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, cause now they're a, they're client states. So it's back to an Equinox and a Palatine, but each of these two big kingdoms, so you've got North and South, a client state of the Thalmor. Um, which, you know, probably works to help them, you know, keep it a bit more fragmented and like easier to control, I would imagine.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And think they're far more noble as well. It's a much snobbier area to the south where it's kind of like, you know, the rich nobility and though that warrior culture to the north, they're barbaric, you know, they're barbarians. Whereas you'd almost look at the, the warrior culture could look at them and see them as a bit more degenerate and, um, despite them thinking they're, you know, more noble.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They also, so they also added in uhm, Moon Singers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, which is kind of like what the Bosmer have with, uh, spinners. And they're meant to be greatly respected and they tell ancient tales and stuff. Which, to be honest, I feel like this maybe should have fallen under the domain of the Clan Mothers more.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, I mean, regardless, there are these moon singers, and they know all these ancient tales, some of which are secret.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And there's even some really ancient tales that are split across several moonsingers in order to, in order to like maintain its secret. So no one knows like the whole tale, which I find a bit weird because you know, what happens when you bring it all together at one point, can't someone with a good memory remember it? I dunno.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's interesting that they do have this kind of holistic pantheon.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When, when you look at their gods, because there's Aedra who are virtuous, just like, you know, they are in other cultures. They have some of the, like, similar ones, like Mara and Stendar, which have their own names. And they also have the Daedra, like, you know, Dunma have Daedra to worship, who, as well as testing gods and things like that. And then they have side deities and they,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They seem to have, it's not like every Khajiit would worship or venerate every deity or anything like any society. But they do seem to fill out all of the blanks in a cohesive way. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, with Boethra specifically, you actually see that they don't- it actually specifically states for her that they don't worship her traditionally and that they honor her by walking her kind of path or like, you know, walk the walk, not just talk the talk. It's like-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's a pretty good, that's a pretty good summary. That's a, that I must say, cause generally it takes a long time to go through all that, but that gets the gist across pretty well. There are, there are many spirits that come from it, and I like the whole litters thing. Interestingly, there's a, a spirit that we don't really know anything about.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the names not even known, I think except by Azuraba with you and Mafala?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And uhm, this spirit is hinted at or thought by theologians to be ebonarm, but basically it's this dark spirit and appears


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it sounds like, you know, your ebony warrior ebon arm kind of vibe character, but uh, it's all very secret. I do like some of the old texts, uh, that kind of categorize the spirits as well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So you have, like, the sky spirits, Azura, Jojoan, Kanathi, Magrus, uh, the worldly spirits, and there's, you know, there's some Daedra we haven't mentioned, but like, Homura, Hursin, uhm, and it's funny because there's actually interaction between Azura and Homura.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which, you know, would be looked at by, like, the modern Khajiit as kinda like blasphemous and like weird. Uhm, you know, cause it's a prior to the whole RiddleThar thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, but that's all quite cool. Nerni is in the Worldly Spirits list as is Sangin, a god of death and secret murder who...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Isn't seen as like, uh, bad as he is in other cultures, but is just seen as like a cat that will pull you off the path with temptations. And I find that interesting too. This is like a little thing. And Drew, you have a kitten or a cat.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They do gross things, right? Like, you know, they'll kill, they'll, if you let them out, I mean, or in the wild, they could kill a bird or a rat and bring it to your front door. It's a gift. Yeah, it's a gift. But I almost like how in, in my head, at least that could be kind of, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's not demonized because it's natural to them to have some kind of like, more animalistic side. At least that's how I interpret it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They also have, uhm, as we said, Ifa, as a well-deserved spirit. Oh, and isn't, uh, isn't it Tersene's skull head?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they have Ifir as well, as I was saying, in the Worldly Spirits list. And then they have the Wandering Spirits, where things get a little more confusing a bit. So there's, uh, Arca.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, which is like one of the eldest children of Anur and Fathomai. Uhm, so they've got Akka, but then they've got like Alkan and they've got Alkosh. So, it's kinda like- This does, yeaah, does get confusing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The Akka is known as the pathfinder in the first cat. Interestingly, uhm, his father's advice was to find love. He mated with the winged serpent of the east. Uh, so you know, you could think Akkavir.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's actually interesting because uhm, and I'll pull that into my Vamina video that I'm currently making. But in the Vamina podcast, we were talking about how her realm kind of seems like everyone says her sphere is dreams and nightmares, but really they just seem like a tool.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, for her true sphere of influence, which seems to be fear slash terror, and I suppose illusion and manipulation type stuff as well, but in the Khajiit pantheon it specifically says,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, you know, she's born from Fatimae's fear of losing her children. So you have like a very direct link to this concept of fear with Varmina, which I like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's quite interesting, but you don't hear that talked about as much with other cultures and how they talk about Veamina. At least the cultists.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Particularly. Uhm, but yeaah, so those are the dark spirits. Namira, Noctra, Vamina, uhm, and that weird ebon arm type spirit of vengeance who doesn't have a known name to, you know, to history at least.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, and uhm, speaking of which, if we go back from the Dark Spirits, Boethra and Mephala are considered wandering spirits. Uhm, you know, which...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And there's that strong connection there with Lorcage, you know, with Azura, Boethra, Lorcage and Mephala kind of being allies. Um, which is, I don't know, nice and fits into Drew's theory in his video that he's working on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like an idea rather than a spirit. Cause I feel like Ebonom would have will of his own.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I mean, then you have the adversarial spirits. So these are kind of like your Dunmer, the equivalent of the Dunmer's House of Troubles. Uhm. House of Troubles plus one, really? So you have Merid Nanda as the plus one, which is Meridia.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, she is the daughter of Magrus, uhm, who loved only himself and his own creations.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, she is, there's something about her which is quite interesting. Oh, I like this idea. She is intellect without wisdom. Knowledge without purpose. She's a cold spirit born of light without love.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I know we've basically called her a bitch in other podcasts before, but you could, you can really like vibe it there, like light without love.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Basically, like, wants her dad's affection, essentially.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then in Oldest Girls Online, she comes and kinda like, is helping you with Moloch Bow.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Things change over thousands of years. That's true. That is true. That is true. And we have, uhm, Mehrunes, who is Mehrunes Dagon, uhm. Paternally young. Yes, and a god of cat-like form, thus as a kitten, for what is more destructive than a kitten.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean yea, you even, even look at just our own history, like all rebellion and kind of counterculture type stuff and revolutions, it's always like the younger crowd rebelling against the status quo.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, so that's interesting. And Meruins actually had a very popular follower known as Dalok Bray, uh, who was like a Khajiit warlord who cared about like kind of like the traditional Khajiit, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But nah, this Warlord was uhm, very powerful, as well as kind of like setting up that whole warrior culture and all the martial tradition and martial arts stuff which came from it, uhm, which as we know in elsewhere there are all kinds of different martial arts.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And uhm, you know, styles, because they have claws as their weapons, which sets them apart from pretty much all other races, because they can often use that instead of a sword or a node dagger or something, they can just slash at you with razors.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It seems like claw dances, uh, kind of like what has been come to known, like collectively call all the martial arts.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let me see. You've got, you've got, I think they added one more. You've got Goutfang, yeah, Rawlithe Khaj, and Whispering Claw. Uhm, but it's the, yeah, I think you combined it with like Wetfang, like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Also known as, okay, I stand corrected, but yea, so apparently there's Whispering Claw as well, but then there's this other one which I, um, which, uh, there's actually a card in Legends called Desert Wind Champion, but there is a Claw Dance or Martial Arts fighting style known as just Desert Wind.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, so they have their ancient techniques that they preserve with scrolls, kept by the Grand Adept. Um, they use a lot of dual sword techniques with balanced blades as well. So, anyway, yeaah. So they have all their martial arts, which is...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It goes along with everything quite well. Going back to Spirits, uhm, after Meruins, we have Molag, which is basically just Molag Baal, uhm, who will test the Khajiit, and- One of the Twelve Demon Kings. It says, you will overcome him with the might of Boethra, the will against rule. And there's also Orca.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who is, you know, like Orc, is Malacath, or a demon, very similar to Malacath.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, and finally, Shegorath, the skooma cat. So their god of madness is a, a cat with a nice little Shegorath outfit, which I suppose, even though he looks like an alfeek, because he's a daedric prince, he probably could put it on himself.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think he had to ask for one of the other spirits to help him put that on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or maybe Elder Scrolls Online lore was getting a little bit dry.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so the writers were given the advice, look to what people love about the Elder Scrolls and so they looked to the Dunmer and said, let's make the Khajiit more like this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who knows? Who knows? Uh, the other cool thing about, uh, the Khajiit religion is obviously all these other gods we mentioned earlier, such as, uh, Bandar, who is basically like a personification of their cleverness and wit. Uhm, you have an animal god.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Eus, or Ius. I'm not actually sure how to pronounce that. Uhm. Eus.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is a very obscure god, this one. It's like a, a rod carrying, uhm, misshapen humanoid.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The more you read about the animal god Eus, the more you think this will be one of those gods left to history and never talked about again. Like a real, a real daggerfall thing. Like uhm. Yea, it's the same as uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let's get real Australian for a second, but the, the source on, um, Eus comes from a book in Daggerfall and the story involves a wombat. So that's very, that's very Aussie. Yeah. There's a full, I mean, here's a,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Lady Grilina saw her father despairing the loss the town was suffering, so she brought her wombat in and told him,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, but please, ask a wish of my wombat and Eos will fulfill it, for my wombat loves me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The king thought this was fairly flaky, but he had nothing to lose, so he uttered a modest wish to the wombat. All I want is for one business to come to Rock Creek that will never leave, no matter the calamity.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I probably should have mentioned before that the king had always been cruel to the wombat. He used to lick it and try to make it stick to walls.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but how, how, like, usually I would say that I'm pretty, like, generous about not, like, outright calling riding crap. But, come on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The reason I didn't tell you earlier is because I am an early adolescent going through that period when I don't like to communicate. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Anyway, moving on to, uh, other gods, uhm, there is, uh, Srendar, which is Stendar, uhm, which in Khajiit traditions, or some of them at least, he's made out to be more like a Rant and was birthed last in the first litter of Faramai and Anur.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, there's also Mara, the mother cat. Uh, they have Rajin, who is quite an interesting god. Uh, the trickster god, or foot pat cat who walks. This is their, basically, king of thieves, thief god. And uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He saw the ring of Kejidi on Mafala's 8th arm. I got that one. Yeah. He seduced Mafala by appealing to her vanity and stole the ring off her arm while they made love. Like that's some pretty...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pretty like dashing rogue kind of move to make. Pretty cool. Of course we talked about there's Riddle Thar, who is kind of, um, contested in his, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, godly status? Like, is he a god? Or is he just like a, uhm, more like a saint almost?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but he kinda like ascended to godhood, or at least if you venerate. Or consider it a cultural hero, kind of like a raiman.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh yea, in Black Keigo, that like slum district, so he grew up quite poor.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We also have, if I should just talk on, I should just talk on Bandar a bit more, the bandit god. Uh, cause Bandar is interestingly, like we talk about the similarities between the Khajiit and the Wood Elves, Bandar is also found, uh, in the, you know, religion of the Bosmer, of Valomord.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Although there he's only kind of, he's more like a god of archery and a patron of thieves and beggars.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, whereas to the Khajiit, Bandar is like a, a way of life, like rising to the challenge, defeating your opponents and, and, you know, there's more bandit elements involved, which is interesting because it just makes me feel much better about, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The highway men, you know, you play oblivion and there's like often Khajiit highway men that try and rob you. It's kind of cool to think that they might be kind of a follower of Bandar or like worshipping and not just a someone out to get your coin.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But that could also just be proximity of the race in general, like that the highwaymen down there would be, you know, what races.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's this other god, uhm, Kunzari, who is kind of like a mythical Khajiit hero known as the Laughing Lion and the Imprisoner of Dragons. And, uhm, his spirit features in the Elder Scrolls Online like an ethereal version of him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, you know, he's there as well as someone who doesn't seem to be like a god god. Yeah, like that demigoddy sort of vibe. Someone who ascended by doing epic things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I just wanted some clarity there for him before I said it. He lured the gods into the, sorry, the dragons into the halls of Colossus and sealed them away where they would become kind of demons in legends and stuff until obviously in the Elder Scrolls Online things get a bit chaotic and the dragons come out to play.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just be a good Khajiit and don't fall, uh, pray to any of the testing gods and have them consume you and I think you'll be alright.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but imagine like, dunes formed by sugar. Always warm. And like, it's this real like, moon sugar dunes. I hope it's not too warm though.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Maybe it would feel good. Might not be the worst way to go in some other realm just being filled with syrup. Anyway, I suppose what we could actually do, because this is the Khajiit podcast and we haven't talked enough about all the different types of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What we'll do is we'll leave the kind of history of Elsewhere more to a Elsewhere specifically titled podcast, I think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, well we talk about the province more as a whole. But let's talk about some of the breeds. So we talked about the alphic. There's the alphic rat. They tend to add rat when there's just a bigger version. Uhm, so it's just a bigger house cat, like we don't really know too much.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's the cafe, uh, which is kind of like a more, like you see them in Elder Scrolls online, they look...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Kind of like a humanoid cat. It gets confusing because there's a few, there's a few, um, humanoid cats, so it gets confusing. No, no, they're said to be slightly larger and stronger than the, than the soothi. So the soothi.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, and they're said to be more agile than a werewolf and possess phallic barbs. Had to get that in the podcast. But the, the cafe have the human feet, I think. Yeah, they do. They, they look very normal, I guess, as the, ugh, normal. They look just what you're used to seeing when you think of Khajiit. So sapient.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, now there's, uh, the doggy, uh, who are kind of like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So you can imagine the advantage they would have in wars and things like that. Uhm, if you've ever seen monkeys climb on the, you know, in the canopy of tree branches, you can't-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, and whatnot. And there's the doggy rat, which is just like a, a bigger version of that, who can still, supposedly, uhm, you know, go up in those branches and not break them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Those, uh, Dargi and Dargirat are also said to be really good with magic. So you could almost imagine in a war if they were up in the branches using like, illusion spells would be cool to like control things like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So there's the, the ohms or ohmes, what, how do you think that's pronounced? I've always said ohms, but yeah. Ohms, rat, uhm, these are the ones from, or ohms at least, are from like your dagger four extremely, uhm, man slash elf in appearance.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, because, you know, and you can imagine these are the kind of ones that, uhm, Pelennor may have slaughtered when he came to, uhm, you know, on his rampage and mistook Khajiit for elves.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, who knows? Uh, omesra, again, just like a bigger version. They do have like a light fur coating over their body and obviously they have a, a tail. Uhm, which you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It seems like the owners are said to have a tail, but like you haven't really- But it's on the statue. Yea, but you haven't really seen, seen them like- It's just wrapped around it's leg on the statue. That looks really weird, looks like it's coming-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I mean, it could be cool interspersed among the whole society. Cause it just adds more variety.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, to be honest, one critique you could have is that a lot of the rat versions don't really need to be there. A lot of them are kinda just like, oh, same thing, but a little bit bigger.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Same thing, a little bit bigger, but, you know, anyway, moving on, the palmar, uh, the,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then the palmar rat, but these are like big, big khajiit, like these are like very, uhm, like one of them is known as bazaar the bull, but they're like very tiger looking, uh, and just,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Kejait. Uhm, that's like the opposite of an alfeek. You don't want to be born as an alfeek.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well I mean they get made fun of and they don't like that because they get patronised.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean yea, the palmas specifically are definitely like, big, but yea.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They're fairly indistinguishable.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, here's the description, they're meant to stand as tall as two Altma and can weigh as much or more than 50.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, but then it gets this new kind of like, um, annotation from the source, Moon Bishop Honal Answers Your Questions, which is an Elder Scrolls Online Lawmasters archive. And it says, oh, some say these claims may be exaggerated. And it's like, we didn't want to put big mammoth cats in our game. Uh. That would be a door.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But you don't play as them, you know, you could just keep them outside and be like, oh, they often travel with a, I don't know, a smaller companion who is said


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A win-win relationship. Um, and then obviously, yeah, so the Sench Ra, if you look at it in the Elder Scrolls Online,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Why they just beef up it's shoulders and chests and head, and head, but the back end of it, like it's legs are quite low to the ground, like nothing like, uhm, as tall as to Altmer, even on the front, from the look of it. Uh, the concept art from Legends is pretty sick though.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's like, looks like a much bigger, scarier cat.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but they're also really intelligent, so despite being massive and obviously really good at tearing things to shreds and being, you know, these beasts of war, uhm, they- they're actually smart, they speak, they have fantastic memory, they hate having the stereotype of, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Being a beast of burden or having an owner, you know what I mean? Like they, they want the idea of it to be like teamwork, not, uh, you know, you own me and I take you around wherever you want. Uhm, and they can even cast spells. So, that's cool. The Suthay, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, I mean I don't want to come off as like ho ho ho, but couldn't you tell? I don't know, it looks to me like exactly like not an extra.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But yea, essentially their legs look different. Yea, like a kangaroo, like a springy, bouncy type thing. Or like some raptor-like being. Yea, no, that's really cool. But anyway, it is said that the soothay rats, so the slightly bigger ones are what you find in Morrowind. Then the soothay are just like a smaller one. Uhm, that, you know, you don't-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Another mysterious one is the Tojay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's kind of not much said about really outside of living in the marshes. You kind of imagine. They don't look particularly, uh, unique. Like they just look like again, like a, at least based on the statue, like what you would


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Picture as a, yea, filler, normal kind of Khajiit in your head, same as the Tojay Rat, uhm, although, uhm, the Tojay Rat do have the digitigrade legs.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that is something special about them. Obviously we already talked about the main, so we don't have to go through that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I do like that whole idea, we were talking about the cool concept art and the hair, but as a tradition, uhm, they still do honor the mane, like a lot of Khajiits, by removing their own mane.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the main still wears a headdress, but it only has the hair of the main's tribe specifically and his like warrior guard. So it's like still several hundred members, but it's not the entire population anymore because it's grown so much and it would be very impractical.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're kinda on the ball of that foot, right? Like with the toes touching the ground.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pretty cool. Well that runs us out of, uh, fur.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The landscape and the province a bit more than the actual Khajiit themselves specifically, like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The Fudgemuppet podcast will be around for a while, so you can expect, uh, you know, different discussions and coming back to, you know, like we said with the Dunmer, we'll come back to Dunmer, we're not done talking about Dark Elves forever. And the same would go for the Khajiit and their province of Elsweyr.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's what I, that's what I thought, and I think when you, when you think about people's idea of Khajiit in their head,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I feel like it would, like, uh, Elder Scrolls Online really gave the opportunity to show these different first docs, and so you see Khajiit that really just look like a tiger straight out of a documentary in the face, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Whereas before people saw them, you know, they have tiger features, but more like a big cat or a lynx or something like that. And so you could easily see if you were designing races, like you've got this cat race and then, oh, these ones in, in Akavia, they're like proper tiger race.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But then now the tiger part of Khajiit has become more emphasized through different breeds. At least that's just me having a stab at how...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The creative process could have gone down, which diminishes the uniqueness of the Capotana bit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What I will say before we wrap up to throw shade on our thoughts is they do have a similar, uhm, like language or at least like how they spell things like with like lots of apostra- like capotongue with apostrophes and, uhm, things like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but it's just an interesting coincidence that both kind of feline races have it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] of the Elder Scrolls podcast today. This has been the Khajiit podcast. Thank you very much for watching. Social media links are in the description below. If you want to help support the channel, you can follow us on Patreon or buy some awesome Fudge Muppet merch like I've got on here. And we look forward to noting out with you again very soon.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Believe it or not. Let's, let's, let's, let's be real. I don't think personally this is a first take. Let's like see if we can divide it. We can sort of start with even the bottom of the list, but I-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, all of the whole capitals, and what I was going to sort of say is clearly Markarth, Solitude, Wintel and Whiterun and Riften are superior in terms of their like execution, their aesthetic and stuff, like they have had way more attention to detail and so on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Probe, maybe I can be swayed either way, but I don't think any of the um, others really pick up. But let's actually talk about, cause I think they would be at the bottom half of the list. The sort of, you're Falkreath, you're Morthal, Winterhold, Dawnstar. I think they.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, the bottom of the list. And personally, I'm gonna throw in Stardust out, I actually think Winterhold's the worst.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I know I understand the College of Winterhold's there, but like, that's almost like, oh, the faction's like, okay, it's like a mages thing, but outside of that, Winterhold is like, dead. There is like, one shop and like, one bar with barely anything happening in it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Winterhold is proper, like a few farm buildings, a few burnt out ones, and then the College of Winterhold.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To me, I like it for the Nightcrawler Temple Quest and also when you go to the Dawnstar Museum and that's the whole Mythic Dawn sort of set off and also it's where the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary is by the end of it and so on. So it's got these like little things going for it. Uhm, I don't, by the way, Dawnstar is 100% not like any top tier city on my list.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I would kind of say, I would say you extend it out a little bit if the quest are able to take it. For example, I wouldn't mind if you said the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary attached to Falkreath or something, or even the Clavicus Vile quest. Or, uhm, consider things like, uhm, Morvaath's Lair for the Markarth quest. Like, it's so attached.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think so, but then again, but like, okay, let's like cycle through that. I don't think Falkreath is the bottom of the list for sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ultimately, out of them, I think it comes, it's like, it's the environment and atmosphere is a big part of it, for sure. Like, they're just, it's the most dense forest area that you kinda, kinda get out of all of them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, I don't know, maybe it's maybe it's just my own like head, but like I feel like there's more going on in Dawnstar than there is more. I feel like Morphal is literally go in and you do that. Either you cure a vampire with Falian or you do the ghost quest.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And a Dark Brotherhood sanctuary there, and even, even Dawnstar in terms of atmosphere, and I know it's such a small thing, but when you first walk in and you have the Jarl fighting with the Imperial, um, dude and saying, oh, like, you know, why is he still wearing that armor? That kind of thing. Like, I don't know, like you feel, those little moments and stuff and interactions in the cities do help give it a little bit more life, which I think I can only think of Dawnstar.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I don't know if you're how much I'm letting the quests actually like the quest, like the factions, like for example, Companions isn't the cell for Whiterun for me. No. Like that, that you could remove your Vassica.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To be honest, like I'm gonna be real plain, like the Whiterun stuff for me is that it looks like Edoras and it's such a center of the entire world and overlooking the plains. It's the environment, the theme, the vibes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it has way more attention in terms of things going on, like the Greymane sort of Battleborn kind of stuff. It's centered around the main quest.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, I don't mind, I don't have to, it could be... I mean, I can see you tearing up a bit. Okay, how about this for a suggested order, if I was just to throw it and then we can workshop it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then more so. Then all the oncology you want to hold.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not as good as a proper city, it's like a town, but it feels like a town. My problem with College of Winterhold is it doesn't feel like a city at all, let alone a town almost, like it's got like four people, like it's so-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but there's other things going for it. Yeah, I understand that. It's all of this is a subjective collection of things, but I'm just saying that Winterhold as a city, where ranking cities are, it is the abysmal for me. It's just cause it's basically not a city. It's basically the College of Winterhold.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I cannot justify having Winterhold higher than second last. Like, I could be convinced of others, but like, no way. You're gonna tell me it's better than Falkreath, Dawnstar and Morthal? Yep. No, not Falkreath.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, well, okay, so what do we got at the moment? Are we gonna run with what, that? We've got our bottom three. What's the bottom? Morthals.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, my main thing is honestly, it is honestly just the environment around it's beautiful as the main part of it. And if you do with the lore part of a component, I know it's obviously in terms of execution, it's just a graveyard, but it does have this sort of like schtick as being like it's fought over all the time. I also like in its lore that it's like was,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like a Clovian estate and then it's been a Nordic estate and so on, um, Nordic, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hold, sorry. Also the whole like, werewolf quest and so on, like, and you, and you go around, and the, and the dog, uh, it starts there, but it's not huge. But then there's also the Darkbrotherwood Sanctuary, which is really close, and you go in the forest and sort of, the whole-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, but it's, it's just more beautiful as well, really. It's ultimately, like ultimately, I think it's just- I think it's beautiful. Like what would you- Okay, Michael, honestly, what would you put it as? What would you put Falkreath out of those bottom four? You put it, what, bottom?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but like for example, if you're ranking towns, like Riverwood's a beautiful town.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, can we be frank, like by comparison, like all the other cities are ugly by comparison. Dawnstar, Morthal and Winterhold. Easy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At least Falkreath does actually have like, it's a, like a, like the, the Yarls thing was a little, the headquarters is a little bit taller and looks a little different.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it's not. No, it's the gator, but dude, saying that anyway is only a sell to me anyway, because Riverwood is a really cool town. I think it is a unique looking town. I think Dawnstar looks closer to like Rorickstead, take Rorickstead, just put it in the snow. Because it's just plain all around, it's just like plain, just switch the color.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At Dawnstar. Yeaah. Yeaah. But I'm just, what I'm trying to say is like we're not, look, none of these cities in terms of just like literally each individual buildings look that unique at all. Except you could go Winterhold as the College of Winterhold there, but outside of that it's all that basic farm building look. So a lot of what you're looking at in terms of just the aesthetic of it is like it's layout and what's around it and so on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of the bottom four, I think Falkreath is the top in my opinion.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I guess I wonder how this will like factor into you guys, but I really do like cities for being cities as part of it. So I want there to be, I want there to be an atmosphere of a city. So when you go to Dawnstar, there's like, there's the Dawnstar museum. There's like, oh, there's these whole nightmares plaguing the thing. There's a little political.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's different, it's a cool place, but as a, as a, as a city, I think it's the less, and that's the same reason I don't like College of Winhold as much.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah. All right. Well, what do we think? I'll hear your guys opinions on what do you think is the bottom of the, the top five, the well executed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh really? Of the top 5? I thought you'd rank it a bit higher. I mean- I do love it. I can be like, the main thing-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think with the reason people get so attached to it, obviously, like you said, spend so much time there and it's kind of like the headquarters or central sort of part for the rest of it. Like, for example, like it's the only place where you have, I feel like an emotional connection to the Yarl because of the main quest, like you go to the Yarl Bolgoroth. And when you do the civil war that takes over a main city, that doesn't happen for the rest of the city. So it becomes even more significant.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because if you have that kind of quest and you go into the throne room and even if you're overthrowing your old Belgoruf.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, I remember doing it because I did Stormcloaks the first time through. I remember feeling really bad because I didn't want to overthrow Jarl Bölger if I wanted him to like, do I ever reckon like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Real quick, one thing also, like I was sort of saying, like you want to kind of like, at least how I'm doing is trying to think in terms of like a city, but also like cities as in like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do I want to be in them? Like I quite enjoy walking around, not living, not forgetting that, but literally playing in that city. Like I enjoy walking around Whiterun and like the life, like the thing that does


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Would get Whiterun ranking higher for me is, is kind of a layout, but when you go through, there's that market district in front of the Bannered Mare and you get people talking and crossing and stuff, or at least it tries to gives you the vibe of that. You go up the, go up again and then there's the temple priest and the Talos praising from Heimskir and so on. I think in terms of atmosphere.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, you go past and you know how you get like that Raid Guard woman talking to uhm, the guys that lost the family sword, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I think that's because Bethesda put a lot of effort there, because that's where everyone's gonna go at first, but I think it's just well executed. The land around it looks really cool, like the big golden fields and stuff, and the thing is, you see that land all the time from where you are. Like, sitting there, and you can see Hive Rothgar as well. It's a massive land.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, whatever or not, that's a good thing. Like the law, like in terms of law and like, it's like the city execution, like what they do often with the cities anyways, because they're like limited by the size. The way to do it is like to break it up. Like you're saying with the docks and the gray quarter, even though like the actual land space of wind helm is not crazy big compared to any of the others or anything, it does create that sort of.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, real quick, one thing I'll throw out there is that architecturally also really like it too and it's got that, it's like got that cold ancient north stone sort of look as well, which I really like. But, I wonder what you guys think of this. In terms of, despite on paper, I can go all these reasons Windhelm's really good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When I'm in it, I don't really like being in Windhelm when I'm playing the game. I just don't actually enjoy walking around Windhelm. And same as the area around it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I honestly, like this is the hard thing because we're dealing with like the top 5 cities anyway out of it. Like I could put Windhelm at the bottom. Uhm, I think just because I have to factor in that I just don't like being in Windhelm that much. Like yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, I mean, that's a hundred percent. It's like, I never go to Winterhold unless I'm going for the college. Like that's it. Um, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I do feel like with these cities, especially Skyrim cities for me, at least, um, especially like, you know, out of the top five properly done ones are all pretty on par. Like to me, there is no hyper clear winner. There's no one like, oh, this one really sucks. And this one's great. It's really out of those top five, I kind of get a little.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of all the cities in Skyrim cities.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, like, it's hard, we'll have to think about more of them, but I do really like, um, Riften, and there's obviously there's plenty of stuff there, also got the same vibe, like you've got the, oh, Maven Blackbriar's here, she runs this whole joint, and you have other characters kind of reacting to that, like the people that are in the metery and so on, and, and you,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you know, the whole existence of the Rat-A-Way, Rat-Way to be fair, like, um, factors in-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The House of Horrors quest is memorable and so is the, uhm, when you go into the, uh, the...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Markarth, like, there is no better, like, entrance, like, welcome to Markarth when you walk in and then someone gets stabbed in front of you. Like, it's a pretty memorable sort of, like, thing going on there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, and in terms of history too, like I think it's one of the better examples of the whole Forsworn deal anyway, and having that interlinking with Ulfric, so it becomes far more relevant to like a main character's story and that, the whole interaction there and so on with, and the man in arc and all that. But like, I kind of like that, that there's, it's different.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To Riften in the way that it's, Riften's like, oh welcome to the seedy city and there's a lot of thieves everywhere and so on, whereas Markarth, it's like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It presents itself as not, but then there's this darker underbelly and there's all of these like, you know, um, with the whole conspiracy of the silver bloods keeping Madinah in the mind. And then there's the four sworn reachman stuff all around it. And that's sort of like latent threat that seems to exist. And yeah, I kind of, and obviously, like I said, like all of the Dwemer kind of.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Stuff. It's just super cool. Like in the same way, if you were to go to like Morrowind cities and you'd be like, Oh, what are the unique cool ones? Oh, a saddler's moor. It's a big mushroom talvani house. I mean like this one's in a dwarven ruin. Like it's pretty unique. You're used to it now cause you played so much Skyrim, but it stands out a lot amongst the rest. So.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I guess, to me funnily enough, I mean I often did buy Proud Spy Manor just because it was the most expensive house and characters and so on, but the other thing too for me there is like I actually spent a lot of time there, it became like a central


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, but I also like when you first enter and there's the whole like execution, I think that's a really cool like opening to the city as well, which has done well. But then there's the presence of the Imperials and the Forts and so on. It's a very Imperial feeling, but there are lots of cool quests that surround it, like even, you know, the whole, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When you team up with the Argonian guy to light the lights out. Like that's a really cool quest. There is the Bard's College which wasn't as well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Almost like hangar, yea, underneath is cool, but you go, you go up and you, as you go up, you sort of get the feel that you are following to richer and richer as you get to the houses close to blue palace and so on. Also there's a temple of divines there. However, like we were sort of saying that they're all like close. I could easily put it as number four.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wait, number four. Bed and wind helm. Sorry. Wind helm's the bottom out of the five.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because they're sort of a mi- I mean at the end of the day it is all like a subjective kind of thing. But yea, we could throw in like objectively solitude is the most-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Look, a lot of these ones, a lot of these ones can be so like, like I said, I could be switched around on any day. I'm pretty certain Wind Helm at the bottom of the five.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, if what we're doing right now is more or less trying to decide the order of the three in the middle.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I will tell you Riften as much as it feels like it is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Riftin has the least grandeur of any of them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, which to me sometimes I kinda do like that. Like when you're going up to the, to the Glow district and especially as you look at the balcony, it feels like this is the seat of a king, which is essentially what a yacht is kinda like, you know, should, should be, not like a high king. Uhm, but...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it kind of feels big and when you, especially when you enter Dragon's Reach, like you're in a Yarl's Palace. Same as when you enter, uhm...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, what to call it? Even the blue palace and so on. As much as it's not the big size as grandeur, the seeding of it, the big on this arch overlooks everything. Whereas Riften's palace is pretty low tier.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, you're sitting on the throne of ancient race. Like it's kind of like, yeah, it's pretty cool. So I, I-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] City like, most city like cities, but things like grandeur and stuff too. Like when you, why is the imperial city cool? Cause you go in, there's imperial palace, there's all these districts and there's huge buildings. It looks cool. Why is Skyngrad cool? Oh, cause it's got like, you know, the lower part and then there's the castle up there and it kind of feels like welcome to Skyngrad.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know what, this is a really like reason I'm gonna put, I think, so close, I think I'll put Whiterun at 2 because...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It fi- A, all the central reasons stuff we said before, it feels more Nordic to me. It feels more like this is the seat of a Jarl. Like this is like welcome to Skyrim. Look at all of this, like this big step that I control. I'm on my cool palace of Dragon's Reach. Dragon's Reach has a really cool history with Olaf One-Eye and so on. The companions are there, there's the Skyforge.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] White Run feels like a city, and the city itself in terms of its lore and even in the execution feels like it has a lot of history. There's clans that have been feuding for a long time, the companions have been here for, you know, four and a half thousand years or whatever it is. Like, it feels like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Even to the plot of Skyrim, it feels so central. Like I mean, it is, it's the main part. It's the tipping thing of the civil war. And I just, I feel like for all of those reasons and sort of combined, I would put it at number two over solitude.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, I think the reason Markarth wins out is honestly the X factor over the type.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I guess now that we've sort of talked about the other ones a bit more, we can get a bit more clarity of what we think in, but in terms of like, I'm pretty happy with more thought at the bottom, like in terms of relevance to the, to the rest of the world, like there's a cool, like, you know, there's some cool things there, but it's really, really small.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, uhm, and then there's like, you know, I like it, but yeah, not, not really.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For example, and I wonder how much this factors in, maybe we can try and throw in some extra things, but like I said with Dawnstar, it feels like it is, even if it's just that interaction at start when you walk in, it sort of establishes itself as


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But you're not, but you're not playing the concepts. You're living your, when you play the game, you're in the execution of it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But in terms of being in a city like, I'm a character, I wanna go to this city, yeaah, I'm excited to Winterhold, what's to do here? Like, especially if you're not a mage, and you're not going to the College of Winterhold, why would you be in Winterhold? There's nothing there to do, there's like, and it doesn't feel like there's a lot going on, you don't get any idea of like districts and stuff. The reason I put Dawnstar over Winterhold is that it actually, at least,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It feels like, oh, there's the Dawnstar Museum, there's, there's the mines, there's the docks, and oh, and they, you know, they make comments about how they.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Look, my main thing is, you go and once, you don't, it's immense how far you cast the net, because I feel like if you cast the net to the entire hold, you start getting, like the reasons for example, you'd say things like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The docks or, or something like solitudes, like technically it's not in the city, but it's very like connected to it. Or even the mines or something outside of Markarth or like, you know, in, in Whiterun, you could kind of like, you know, there's the watchtower and the farms around it. They make it look like it feels like it's still connected.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know if there's any implicit connection between, I don't think there is between Azura's statue and Winterhold. Because I don't think there is no implied connection there either. Like for example, Riften, if you were to say to the meteries or the farms just outside of Riften, there is that like societal implied connection that kind of attach it a little bit more.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It feels like there's things going on. Winterhold feels so isolated, so empty to me. And if you're like, oh, that's his, he's my pitch for city. It's isolated, empty. There's no one in it. The only thing here is this College of Winterhold. Like what I'm saying is fun. So it's true.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but it's interesting because it's ruins, not the ruins of a city. But we're ranking cities. If I said to you, if I said to you, what are the most interesting cities to like to be in, to go in or whatever to see in the world, would you put Chernobyl at the top anywhere near it?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Look, I'd rather go to, there's probably hundreds of cities that I would rather go to in the world that actually are cities and not ruins.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, labyrinthian, labyrinthian. It literally was a city called Bromanjar, an ancient city. It's no longer populated. What do we think?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A population needs to be there, I think. People make the city. Cause if there's no people in a city, it quickly becomes a ruin.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, look, even if people use population metrics to determine whether something's a, like, you know, a settlement town or a city as well. Like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but we're not like, that's like I said, I said that Winterhold has grandeur going for it because of the look of the college outside of that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Dude, outside of the college, there's like, how many NPCs? I'm finding it up there. How many NPCs in the city in general?