Speculation on Space Travel - a TES lore writeup

One common thing to do once you've studied enough of the lore is that you start wanting to put things together, like pieces of a puzzle. Collating sources and disaprate mentions of something will sometimes net you a whole new narrative. So far I've done it once and I'm working on another. This one I originally published on r/teslore back in January.

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I want to preface this by saying I'm still quite new in the lore space, but in the previous year I read extensively. This text was born out of a simple musing.

"The Nereid in the southwest fountain fell in love with a Dremora and followed him here through a river of memories that flows from Nirn to realms beyond. When she arrived, she found herself trapped. Now, the Dremora will not let her go." 
- Vistha-Li, Fargrave

This is the quote that got me wondering whether it would be possible to travel between realms via water. The Imperial Mananauts and the Sunbirds of Alinor were all so preoccupied by going to Aetherius via the stars, but what if it is possible to reach the stars via the oceans? Effectively going up by going down.

First we need to confirm what oceans are in The Elder Scrolls universe. Before the War of Manifest Metaphors, Nirn did not have oceans. They are said to have appeared after the war according to the Anuad:

This war reshaped the face of Nirn, sinking much of the land beneath new oceans, and leaving the lands as we know them.
- The Annotated Anuad

Add to that what we know water itself to be within The Elder Scrolls universe;

“When a mortal dies, where do you think their memories go? I'll tell you—they go into the water. They become water. All the memories of Tamriel's history are stored in its waters.”
- Herald Kixathi

and the origin of the oceans suddenly portray the viciousness of the war. Enough of the Ehlnofey died to create oceans. Another water related phenomenon that is said to have occurred first after Convention is rain.

Kynareth is a member of the Nine Divines, the strongest of the Sky spirits. [...] She is also associated with rain, a phenomenon said not to occur before the removal of Lorkhan's divine spark.
- Varieties of Faith in the Empire

 Khenarthi. Elder Spirit of the Heavens [...] For some tribes she also serves as a spirit of mourning, as it is written that when Lorkhaj died she hid herself in a storm and wept until Alkosh came to comfort her.
- The Sky Spirits

“Hear me, goddess of storms, and the bringer of rain”
- Kyne’s Challenge

So this brings us to the conclusion that the water and oceans on Nirn are a mixture of memories and the tears of an et’Ada. This connects us to the latest lore from The Elder Scrolls Online (Update 44):

“Everything is connected. People, objects, the sea.”
- Hyacinth

“Ever since I was very young, I could sense connections between me and other people. Between people and objects. [...] Through my deep magic I can sense the connection between people and objects. [...] I reached out through the connection we share and manifested a moment that happened [...] I pulled on our connection to see memories of her past, right? What if I try to push on that connection and use it to open a portal straight to her?”
- Tanlorin

These tidbits of dialogue points to emotions and memories connecting people’s souls not just metaphorically, but literally, and that that connection can be used to open portals by people well-versed enough in that kind of magic. So the possibility of using water to travel is already implied on the basis that water is memory and memories are a connection.

So let’s explore means.

My thoughts first went to the Dwemer. The people known for their science and technology, who mysteriously vanished, and who seemingly used to travel to other realms if Yagrum Bagarn is to be trusted.

“I cannot say what happened. I was not there to observe. I was in an Outer Realm at the time, and when I came back, my people were gone.” 
- Yagrum Bagarn

Following the Dwemer line of thought I found Aetherbells, vessels that could “dive” through the realms of Aetherius and Oblivion, if rumour is to be believed. There is no evidence these ever existed, but assuming they did, their name does not invoke the image of a “spaceship” to me, rather it makes me think of diving bells, described by wikipedia as “a rigid chamber used to transport divers from the surface to depth and back in open water, usually for the purpose of performing underwater work.”

“Aetherbells? You mean Dwarven vessels that "dive" through the realms of Aetherius and Oblivion? Honestly, Amalien, do you have even a shred of evidence to support the idea that those even exist? These are clearly constellation markers.”
- Reginus Buca, Dwemer Star Chart antiquity codex

But wait, that source mentions stars and constellations in the same breath as Aetherbells, so clearly the celestial phenomena are important? Keeping to the Dwemer line, this brought me to the Oculary at Mzulft, and what Paratus Decimius had to say about it seemed to line up:

“From all our research, it seems they were intent on discerning the nature of the divine. This machinery, all of it, was designed to collect starlight, and then... I'm not sure.”
- Paratus Decimius

With the diving vessels and observation of the sky in hand my thoughts turned to Karstangz-Bcharn, or Weather Witches, Dwarven machines capable of controlling the weather. One such machine exists at Graven Deep.

“The logbook describes this island as a Dwarven machine. They wanted to control the weather. [...] This logbook suggests the Dwarves experimented with weather control here. Weather like huge storms.”
- Dhulef

This source suggests that the weather witch was for the purpose of creating storms, but what if it instead was used to create clear skies and thus a means to view celestial phenomena clearly, implying a connection between starlight and water that we will explore later. For now, we will stick with water. Assuming the weather witch was indeed to create storms, then those storms may have had the capability of creating whirlpools. 

The whirlpool in the Abecean called the Maelstrom of Bal can make ships disappear, and may be a portal into Oblivion, but the trauma of riding its waters would surely slay any who tried.
- The Doors of Oblivion

Likewise the Pillar of Thras is speculated to be a portal into Oblivion:

We did not consider it worth the risk to leap from the Pillar of Thras, a thousand foot tall spiral of coral, though we witnessed the sacrifices the Sload made there. Some victims were killed by the fall, but some, indeed, seemed to vanish before being dashed on the rocks.
- The Doors of Oblivion

Let’s also take a look at a specific trade going on from the Systres Archipelago:

The Systres Archipelago exports many raw materials and trade goods, but none more intriguing than the eltheric ammonites. [...]  For reasons we still do not understand, these ammonites contain stores of raw magicka. [...] They also suffer arcane decay—losing potency within a month of harvest.
- Mysteries of the Eltheric Ammonite

Ammonites are a kind of fossilised shell, like the kind frequently seen in the realm of Apocrypha, whose master is Hermaeus Mora, most commonly known as the Daedric Prince of forbidden knowledge, but also of hidden shoals, whirlpools, and sudden squalls. Sailors refer to him as the Tide King and One-Whose-Tentacles-Rise-From-the-Deep, a being who lurks in the abyss and pulls ships into the depths. Those ships end up in Fathom’s Drift within Apocrypha. While ammonites in real life are an extinct group of marine animals, in The Elder Scrolls universe they seem strongly related to Apocrypha, combined with the fact that they lose their magickal potency within a month after harvest, after being removed from the proximity to the ocean, and presumably their connection to Oblivion, it can be surmised that these little fossils are tiny parts of Oblivion. 

So what do all these things have in common? The Abecean Sea is connected to the Eltheric Ocean and all of these; Graven Deep, the Maelstrom of Bal, the Pillar of Thras, the Systres Archipelago, are situated in the same general area. Graven Deep is pretty far away from any known Dwemer settlement, but the Dwemer were not a people to do things without logic or reason. The location for Graven Deep was probably chosen with a specific purpose in mind. What other significant event happened in the Eltheric Ocean? The sinking of Yokuda. Could it be possible that the people who did not manage to escape the continent sinking were not actually killed but rather pulled into a different realm?

It is debated to this day what the nature of the disaster was that destroyed Yokuda. Tremors of the earth were not uncommon in the continent's history, and many argue that it was simply a natural catastrophic series of quakes at the foundation of the land.
- Pocket Guide to the Empire, 3rd Edition: Other Lands

Similarly, Thras is of interest here. Thras was allegedly sunk into the ocean by the All Flags Navy and its Coral Tower created a whirlpool which pulled The Lost Fleet into it. An imitation of the Coral Tower using coral from Thras, as well as The Lost Fleet, can now be found in Coldharbour.

After the Sload released the Thrassian Plague in 1E2200, which claimed more than half of the continent's population, the largest allied naval force in Tamrielic history sailed to Thras, slaughtered all the Sload they could find, and, with great unknown magicks, sunk their coral kingdoms into the sea.
- Pocket Guide to the Empire, 1st Edition: The Wild Region

The blue light atop the coral tower began to pulse and bleed energy into the clouded sky. When the ground beneath our feet began to quake and tremble, no one had to tell us to run. The island began to crack and sink. The sea around Thras boiled as we rowed for our lives back to the Golden Era. We were hauled back on deck in time to watch the Coral Tower collapse into the sea. We noticed too late the current that pulled us towards it. As the eye of blue light atop the tower dipped into the sea it began to spin like a great wheel, and when it met the waves it formed a monstrous whirlpool. Half the fleet was drawn into it, our ship included.
- Journal of Tsona-Ei

Thras has been raised again by the surviving Sload, presumably by negotiating with the Daedric Princes, which the Sload are known to deal with. Thras even seems to fluctuate in size, either due to the tides or through less natural means.

The first maps we have from cartographers who sailed to Thras and returned to tell the tale show a group of sixteen islands, in a semicircle like a partially submerged coral atoll. Over the centuries other maps have been charted by spies, and the number and size of islands has varied, suggesting that the amphibious Sload have a volatile kingdom which fluctuates its land mass, either by the tides or some other, less natural means.
- Pocket Guide to the Empire, 3rd Edition: Other Lands

While this all seems to point to the fact that the ocean, and especially whirlpools, can function as a gateway to Oblivion, it says nothing about Aetherius. It is a sad state of affairs that Aetherial realms are rarely mentioned in sources aside from texts talking about afterlives. But we have the connection with the tears of KYNRT making up part of the cycle of water on Nirn. There is also a small but significant connection to the Magna-Ge, specifically the Nine Coruscations:

Sheza-Rana: The Cyan Star. The … of Water. [...] Energy that uplifts. [...] until Azura opens the Third Eye [...] Mystery, Memory, and the Unknown.
- The Nine Coruscations

Though they came from diverse waters, each Get shared sole purpose
- Mythic Dawn Commentaries 4

For further connections to the Magna-Ge it’s also possible to look at descriptions of Meridia across several sources.

as we speak to Merid-Nunda regarding the light, for she is the scintilla that fears not darkness, and swims the waves of pull and spin ….
- The Exegesis of Merid-Nunda

Vivec was borne by ribbons of water, which wrote their starward couplings in red.
- 36 Lessons of Vivec, Sermon 37

Merid-Nunda: The Red Star. Harbinger of Dawn. [...] Mirror of the Lie
- The Nine Coruscations

Merid-Nunda rose, wiping golden blood from her lips. She glanced around and saw that Dagon and Molagh were both gone, but there was no sign as to where. Behind her sang the Varliance Gate, a doorway that led to so many possible futures for her.
- The Bladesongs of Boethra

Khajiit legends make Meridia’s interest in the Varliance Gate very clear, at the same time she is loosely related to water through vernacular and the rainbow. This brings us to the connection with starlight that I mentioned earlier. The Dwemer were clearly up to something relating to the stars what with their oculory and orrery, but as far as starlight, varliance, is concerned another ancient race comes to mind: the Ayleids. 

In the lore the Ayleids have no precedent of travelling to the stars as far as I could find, but there are plenty of references to their reverence of varliance and their use of meteoric glass and iron. One of their most mysterious inventions is the Ayleid Wells, which fits well with the aquatic theme.

Ayleids Wells are scattered across Cyrodiil's landscape. Their siting is a mystery; they are not associated with any known Ayleid cities or settlements. It is presumed that, in some manner, they harvest magical power from starlight.
- Magic From the Sky

“But why … wells? The meteoric iron lining the heart of these installations is exceedingly rare. Of all the shapes they could have forged, why this one? [...] Most researchers believe meteoric iron wells emit mystic power back to the sky. Purely for religious purposes? Or is that energy … I don't know … going somewhere?”
- Azandar al-Cybiades

Further the Wells are theorised to be placed along ancient lines of magical power. While these theories have not been substantiated in lore, a parallel can be drawn to the Mundus Stones. 

The constellations each occupy their own magical domains, as evidenced by the observable energies that emanate from Mundus Stones and their ability to instil power into individuals. We do not know who erected these stones (which can be found across all the provinces of Tamriel) or for what purpose, but their magical resonance tells us clearly that each constellation's signature is quite unique. This raises questions: were the individual constellations deliberately formed by the Magna-Ge, imparting their essence into the trans-constellatory light? Is each constellation a window into a different Aetherial realm, such as Sovngarde or the Far Shores? [...] A survey of the Warrior stone uncovered strong Aetherial currents travelling from the stars into the stone and radiating outward, implying a cross-Tamrielic web.
- Mysteries of the Mundus Stones

Taking the Wells emanating power back into the stars with the constellations potentially being windows into Aetherial realms, creates the supposition that portals could be formed and that the Wells’ original purpose wasn’t to restore magicka but rather to act as gateways. While immensely interesting at face value this seems to have little bearing on my original question whether water could be used as a way to travel to different realms. However, there is one little curious tidbit of lore that can be interpreted as a connection to this:

“This is a treasure trove of Dwarven astronomical scholarship! The three orbiting spheres could be guardian equation-bodies, but we should at least consider the possibility that they are Dwemeric Aetherbell beacons.”
- Amalien, Dwemer Star Chart antiquity codex

If the Aetherbells were used to dive into the ocean, it could be as simple as the beacons being light sources, but if they were used to dive why have star charts? What if these were beacons for starlight? I posit that the Graven Deep weather witch was used to force clear skies, while the Aetherbells dove into the ocean, and using the realm-travelling capabilities of the ocean as fuel and the starlight beacons and star charts as navigational tools, the Dwemer figured out a way to travel to both Oblivion and Aetherius. 

One final thing to ponder is the fact that the Dwemer knew how to create Temporospatial Claudications, where entrances on Nirn would effectively take you to a pocket realm. While more mundane explanations (like portals) could exist for how they went about creating these in the first place, it is not entirely unfeasible to imagine that they travelled to other realms via Aetherbells and then, from there, created doorways to Nirn to make the journey less complicated or taxing.

Ragnthar has numerous entrances spread across Tamriel. It is literally a space-out-of-space, twisted out of reality. Its physical location is actually unknown! Observations made within the site suggest it once was situated within the mountains of Hammerfell, but a precise origin point has never been determined. What is known is that by stepping across the threshold into Ragnthar, you leave Nirn. And no one knows why. For indeed, the greatest question posed by Ragnthar is: why? Why would the Dwemer expend the enormous amounts of magical energy required to remove a complex from known reality? I call this effort a "Temporospatial Claudication," literally a twisting of time and space.
- The Strange Case of Ragnthar

Somewhat relevant as well is Ragnthar’s supposed original location in Hammerfell, seeing as the Dwemer settlements in Hammerfell and Stros M’Kai are the ones geographically closest to Graven Deep.

Is space travel via water possible? I believe the answer is yes, if you ask the Dwemer.

The Decameron

This was an odd show we picked up entirely based on the trailer. It's a chaotic comedy about a group of people (nobility and their servants) from the time of the Black Death in the 14th century. They all flee the cities to a villa of a nobleman on his invitation. What happens next is several weeks of debauchery, sex, lies, secrecy, revelations, and death.

I had a really good time with this show, although bf wasn't quite as convinced. I didn't approve of the ending because I felt it wasn't a proper ending, but bf thought it was fitting.

Anyway it was mostly a very fun ride. I could watch it again.

I needed more Eora after Avowed so I played Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2

Like the title says and like I said in my post on Avowed: after playing it for 2½ times I still didn't feel done with Eora, so I went and got Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2. 

Pillars of Eternity is more in the old style of RPGs, but that has never been an issue for me. More TTRPG, more point and click, and more storytelling and narrative. More tactical and less hack-and-slash combat is also a major positive for me. 

As always with a new game there's some confusion at the start. I was not prepared for Calisca and Heodan to die first thing lol. But okay so now I'm a Watcher and Awakened and I'm off to find Thaos to make him revert whatever he did. 

The first time I entered Gilded Vale it cast a really dark vibe with the tree full of hanging people and finding out about the Hollowborn "plague" was grim. Babies born without souls. 

Gilded Vale is also where I got my first two companions: Edér and Aloth, and I immediately fell for Aloth, after which I was so disappointed there wasn't even any minor romance in PoE1. I also liked Pallegina, Kana and Sagani. Durance never grew on me, Hiravias was simply crude and cringe, and I could never really get a grip on Grieving Mother. Yet I completed all of their companion quests.

I really enjoyed uncovering the maps and fixing up the stronghold, Caed Nua. I even went as far to complete the Endless Paths (omfg that was so long). And having a soft spot for war table mission, I had a lot of fun with the stronghold adventures I could send companions on. 

I wish the faction quests in Defiance Bay were longer, or that there were simply more of them, like fullblown faction questlines rather than one introduction quest and then you’re involved and here's another quest to piss the other guys off. I ended up going with the Dozens because I didn’t realise I'd get locked out of the other fiction simply by accepting the second quest. I thought I'd have to complete it to state my allegiance, but no. The subsequent riot and the agenda against animancy were both intetesting and appropriately gasp worthy story sequences. 

The battle at the Yenwood was way more difficult than it needed to be because I messed up a few quests that could’ve given me allies and instead I had to do the fight mostly alone. That was... wow. Another fight that was way more difficult than it needed to be was the siege of Crägholdt and the Concelhaut fight. That was just omfg so much trial and error ._. But eventually I got through it! Having Concelhaut's skull as my pet was a perk I didn’t expect but it was so amazing lol.

Then finally the descent into Sun in Shadow and omfg the revelations. NOW THE GODS' REACTIONS TO SAPADAL MAKE SENSE!!! 

As soon as I was done with PoE 1, I ventured into PoE 2, and immediately I recognized a bunch of things I had been told of in Avowed. Eothas wreaking havoc in the Deadfire, the storms of Rauatai...Thanks, Kai. AND OMG LÖDWYN!!

I loved the ship mechanics. Sailing the world is just such a vibe, whether it’s Assassin's Creed Odyssey, or Total War, or PoE 2 it’s just really enjoyable. I love the sea shanties! I could just sit around and listen to them :3 I also liked the increased importance placed on food and drink in Deadfire.

I was so happy to see Edér and then Aloth and Pallegina again. Hello, my friends :3 But for the new companions in PoE 2 I really came to like Tekēhu, Ydwin, Rekke, and Fassina. I wish I liked Serafen, but I bought a slave to infiltrate the slavers and he blew up at me even though I freed the damn slave after I bought him and brought him aboard as a paid member of my crew. Serafen still talked to me like I was despicable, and I just sat there like what else do you want from me? Xoti was too religious, I don't like that in any context. Maia was cool, but she only served to remind me of Kana and I missed him. 

I love the romance in this game, as sparse as it is. Once you get to a certain point your followers will initiate dialogue and you'll have dialogue choices that settle whether you’re friends or romantically involved. Like I said, I fell for Aloth already in PoE 1 so when he stammeringly confessed to caring for my Watcher I just dropped all pretense told him same and kissed him on the spot. After that there were party banter from everyone else talking about how Aloth would stand very close to the Watcher or noting how they’re spending a lot of time together lately and I just \*w*/

At the end of one of the DLCs, Llengrath asks what my Watcher plans to do next and one of the dialogue options is dead-ass just "Aloth." So I picked that and Aloth just sputtered "W- Watcher!!" and I giggled like crazy. Love it! 

There was a lot of really cool exploration in Deadfire. I ventured to land on every island and take what I could from it, but every tim I stumbled upon one of the Mega-Bosses I'd slowly back away. As max level, just before heading off to face Eothas, I decided to give one of the mega-bosses a shot. I did better than I thought I would, but it still wiped my whole team. 

Then off we went to fight Eothas and holy shit... SO MUCH MAKES SENSE NOW WTF.

I thoroughly recommend playing Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2 if you liked Avowed, and vice versa.

And the comment when the Kraken showed up again in PoE 2: "Didn’t we already kill this guy?" Yes, yes we did. In the White March, but do you think the gods care? :P

And now I'm off to do my second playthrough of PoE 1, probably followed by a second playthrough of PoE 2. Who cares about backlog xD

Arcane S02

We finally got around to watch season 2! I had to look up when we watched season 1 and it was all the way back in April 2022! It's been almost 3 years!

Season 2 wasn't as amazing as season 1. It was still really great, but at the same time it felt like it was trying to do too much. There were too many storylines happening all at once and they didn't quite manage to tie it all together before the season was over.

I love Jinx and this season did nothing to make me love her less. It did make me cry over her though.

I spent most of this season being angry with Jayce.

Viktor was the most interesting thing to happen in this entire season.

Game completed: Avowed (twice!)

I was very excited for this game. Partly because it was Obsidian, partly because I really enjoyed The Outer Worlds, partly because it reminded me of Dragon Age, and partly because it looked hella cool!

I've seen so many people saying Avowed is just The Outer Worlds but fantasy, but as I played it I got more Dragon Age vibes than Outer Worlds vibes. Outer Worlds is absurd and humoristic with a dark undertone. Avowed isn't like that. The darkness isn't an undertone, it's prevalent and everywhere, any humor is just to defuse serious situations. Threats of famine and invasion with subsequent subjugation are imminent and very real, on top of that there's a plague decimating the population. 

Playing through Avowed I could definitely see that it had the same devs as Outer Worlds, but Avowed is in no way a carbon copy of Outer Worlds in a new skin. 

So, the story. You're a Godlike from the Aedyran Empire sent to the Living Lands to investigate a plague called the Dreamscourge. You're sent as an Imperial Envoy by the Emperor personally, to see whether this plague he's hearing of will hinder the plans to incorporate the Living Lands into the Empire. The people living in the Living Lands are not fans of the upcoming Imperial annexation and there are a lot of rebels and opposing forces going around. As you follow in the wake of the plague you become entwined with the locals and the politics of the Living Lands, and the Dreamscourge has a deeply personal revelation in store for you too.

For my very first playthrough I got as far as the end of the second zone. The big thing that happens there shocked me so much I had to look up whether it was possible to have it end differently. And it was. That's also when I discovered that I had missed a whole heap of stuff. So I decided to restart the entire thing. 

The next playthrough I played all the way to the end and once I got there I immediately started another playthrough to make different choices and get some achis I didn't get the first time around. I think I prefer how this last playthrough turned out. 

The major choices have major repercussions. As it should be.

For my first complete playthrough I played Wizard class. I spent the majority of my time running around with a wand in one hand and a shield in the other :3 All the wand waving made me think of Hogwarts Legacy tbh. 

For my second playthrough I was a Rogue. The game allows for two weapon load-outs and I had bow in one and sword and shield in the other. There was an achi for parrying with a shield, hence all the shields, also I suck at timing things, do the math. 

I absolutely loved all of the companions. Marius took some getting used to and a lot of work to break through his walls, but my heart ached for him once I discovered why he had those walls at all. Giatta and Yatzli are my girls. I loved running around with an all girl team with those two. 

To nobody's surprise, though, Kai *cough* Garrus *cough* is my favourite. Avowed doesn't have much in the way of romance, and that's fine, but there's one instance where you can tell Kai that you like him and then the end slide shows them together afterwards. Warm, fuzzy feeling :3

I fell to my death misjudging a jump more than I died in combat xD Climbing is dangerous.

After having played through Avowed two and a half times I still didn't feel done with the world. So I went and got Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2, both of which take place in the same world as Avowed. 

So we played Raft...

After Evil West we decided to play another survival base builder game and landed on Raft. The first world we started we didn't realize the raft would leave us behind if we jumped off it, so we jumped to the first island we found, ran around, realized the raft was gone and then came to the realization that it wasn't possible to build another raft from scratch. (Why not? You can add as many raft pieces as you want to the existing raft, but somehow you can't tie two raft pieces together to make a new raft). So we were stranded on a tiny little island and had to restart another world. 

We soon realized this game came with a lot of annoyances, the most glaring one was durability and how fast things broke, and when things break you can't repair them, they just vanish completely, disintegrated. The second was how extremely fast hunger and thirst needed to be satisfied. The third was planks. The first few sessions all we did was stand on the raft and fish for materials and food. We stopped at every little island we found to strip it from resources and then continue on our way, floating aimlessly. 

Planks were needed for everything. You want to cook the fish you've caught - planks. You want to build more raft - planks. You want to repair your raft after the goddamn shark's been at it again - planks. You want to make clean water - planks. You want to smelt ores into ingots, or make sand into glass, or seaweed into vine goo (basically glue) - planks. You want to make tools - planks. You want to keep your engines running before you get the blueprint to make biofuel - planks. You want to build anything at all on your raft - planks. So many planks. We'd deforest every single island we went to, fish up every single plank, barrel and crate from the water and yet somehow we were always short on planks. It saved us some planks once we got a metal frame around the entire raft so the shark couldn't attack and got biofuel set up for the engines and a proper electric water tank. Batteries were a major resource drain until we finally got the battery charger and didn't have to make a new battery every time one ran out. The timing discrepancy between needing a battery for the receiver and being able to craft batteries, and actually being able to recharge batteries is too vast (blueprint for battery charger is at Caravan Island, the fourth story location after you've set up the receiver). At which point you likely need batteries not only for the receiver, but also for the recycler, and the juice machine, and the sprinkler. 

Hunger and thirst diminished at such a fast speed that whenever we went to explore a story location we'd make sure we were full on hunger and thirst, brought food and drink with us, and yet were forced to return to the raft to eat and drink at least twice before completing the location. We'd also have to return to just dump stuff in storage because inventory is extremely limited and story locations offer a shitload of loot. Even after we got the backpack and got slightly more inventory space it still became a whole lot of back and forth to the raft to dump into storage and "might as well eat and drink while I'm here".

Eventually we managed to get the receiver and antennas up and running and started going through the story. The radio tower and the Vasagatan yacht were simple enough. Balboa Island was when the annoyances started to tip over into actual problems. Caravan Island was when we realized that the availability of resources was extremely skewed. Tangaroa was pretty nice compared to Caravan and Balboa, although it still had its annoyances. Varuna Point was when we quit the game to never return. 

Balboa Island was when we realized we needed armor due to the bears, but we hadn't yet managed to catch any animals, so we didn't have any wool or leather to make armor from. We could build the net gun and the pens well enough. But we couldn't get any ammo to the net gun because to craft it we needed explosive goo, which we could get from puffer fish, which were so rare we barely ever encountered them and when we did they were liable to just explode into poison clouds rendering them unlootable. It wasn't until after Tangaroa that we finally managed to catch any animals. And only because Caravan Island had puffer fish in abundance. 

Balboa Island was also where we discovered that unlike other survival games we've played together you don't drop your gear in the place you died for you to go and collect once you respawn. No, in this game everything is counted in durability, so when you die everything in your inventory loses durability which means that depending on how much durability the item had when you died you either lose the item entirely or its durability is halved from where it was before you died. We almost quit the game right then and there, because we had to remake pretty much every single tool from scratch. And of course we were low on planks, because when the fuck weren't we.

Caravan Island was so confusing we had to look up a guide on how to get through it and find everything needed to progress. Same deal with Tangaroa and Varuna Point. Varuna Point was a major hassle since it was mostly under water. The guide said diving gear was recommended, but not required. We tried without but that made things go so slowly so we went back to the raft to fix some diving gear. Two sets each due to durability and after that we were basically out of planks, seaweed and vine goo. It was still slow going so we had to return to the raft a few times for food despite finding it in containers and bringing it with us. The boss of Varuna Point is the Rhino Shark and unlike the Mama Bear at Balboa Island, it's unskippable. The strategy is to make the shark swim into the concrete pillars and once the pillars are broken up place explosives in them and make the shark swim into them again, creating a hole to the next level and injuring the shark. This would have to be done on three levels, each level had less pillar. We had to take turns to do this so that one of us could be off to the side to heal and/or eat/drink. We had only just started to be able to catch animals and had yet to find chickens since being able to catch them and so we had no eggs, so we couldn't make any healing salves... So our only healing option was to chill in the water and let the health replenish over time. On the last level of the boss we ran out of food/drink and durability on all our diving gear. We chose to return to the raft to replenish, but when we were set to return to the boss arena we were both attacked by the rhino shark which was now suddenly outside?! Also the regular shark decided to join in. First I died, so bf decided to try to go get me and return me to the raft (because you gotta be on a bed to rez). On the way back to the raft he was attacked by both sharks and he also died. We respawned on the raft with all of our gear either lost or with most of their durability gone. We had no resources to make new equipment because we had used up all our planks to make vine goo to make diving equipment that couldn't even withstand the time the area required. 

Softlocked due to shitty durability and bosses roaming free we dumped this game and moved on. 

Intro to the Lore of the Elder Scrolls Universe

This is probably the nerdiest post I will ever make, and one that has been a long time in the making. At the end of July 2023 I decided to start studying the lore of one of my favourite video game franchises; The Elder Scrolls. It has one of the most expansive, complicated and detailed worlds ever, and it relies heavily on the "unreliable narrator" meaning that every event has at least two perspectives and both are true even when contradicting each other, because both characters are retelling what happened from their individual perspectives. Each account is their truth, even if it might not be the overarching truth or the whole truth. 

Unless you go around reading every single book you find, the general gameplay experience will offer you a very limited view on lore. It's when you start drawing connections between events described in books and described by NPCs and even from Out of Game texts that you start to glimpse how fucking huge this universe is and how much attention to detail has gone into it. And once you start studying the lore you simultaneously find yourself studying philosophy, psychology and comparative religion. 

So how do I even start trying to make the lore make sense for the uninitiated? Let's start with Skyrim, the most recent main game in the franchise. 

The first thing that happens after the initial cutscene is that you get to create your character. You have ten choices for race. Altmer, Argonian, Bosmer, Breton, Dunmer, Imperial, Khajiit, Nord, Orc, and Redguard. 

The Altmer, or High Elves, are a race of elves who view themselves as closest to the original race of elves which all other elvish races sprung from: the Aldmer. Their culture is obsessed with preserving this purity and because of this purity they view themselves as superior to all others. According to legend the Aldmer were descended from the gods and the Altmer view it as their biological right to attempt to re-ascend to godhood. Some of their cultural heroes, like Phynaster and Syrabane, have allegedly done this. Their most revered god is Auriel, the God of Time. They hail from the island province of Summerset.

The Argonians are the lizard people, who are on the outside of the man/elf schism. They hail from the swamps of the southeast, Black Marsh, and they live in a tribal society where they worship the Hist, a sentient race of trees. Every tribe has their own Hist tree and the Argonians consume its sap on their name day to receive their name and connection to their Hist. It's said that the Hist saw the other mortal races and found that those forms were useful so the Hist created its own version of that form: the Argonians. The Hist can influence the Argonians and even change their form or gender. Aside from the Hist they also worship Sithis, the primordial cosmic force of change. They experience life from the aurbic now, meaning the past isn't important and the future is unknown so they live in the present. Argonians see change as good and accepts that nothing ever lasts. 

The Bosmer, or Wood Elves, are a race of elves who live in the deep forests of migrating trees in the southwest, Valenwood. They worship Y'ffre and view existence as a story told by him. To honour him they follow the Green Pact, which says that the forest can't be harmed. So they can't chop down trees or farm or pick vegetables. They eat meat. Even the meat of fallen people as it's against the Green Pact to allow the dead to sink into the ground. Their weapons and armour are made of bone and carapace and sinew. The Green Pact states that if they care for the forest, the forest will provide for them and this gives them the ability to shape the trees to their liking, into dwellings. Unlike the Altmer, they don't view themselves as superior and like the Argonians they also prefer to live in the aurbic now. The Wild Hunt is a ritual the Bosmer can perform in times of great danger which allows them to transform into eldritch monsters that will devour everything in their path. Once transformed, they can't turn back.

Bretons are a mix of man and mer. In ancient times a House of Altmer, the Direnni, arrived on the shores to the northwest, High Rock, and settled there. They eventually encountered human tribes which they took as their concubines. The eventual offspring would result in the Bretons, a race that looks like men but with the magical affinity of elves. Eventually the Bretons revolted against the Direnni and took the region for their own. The region consists of very many small kingdoms and dukedoms and they have a culture centered around knighthood and questing. They follow the Imperial pantheon with Akatosh, the God of Time, as their main deity. 

Dunmer, or Dark Elves, are a race of elves of live in the volcanic ashlands to the east, Morrowind. Originally called Chimer they broke off from the Aldmer in ancient times and travelled across the continent to their new homeland. The reason they broke off was due to religious differences from the Aldmer, the Chimer instead chose to venerate the Three Good Daedra: Azura, Mephala and Boethiah. Quite some time later these three gods would be exchanged for the living gods of the Tribunal: Almalexia, Sotha Sil and Vivec, who were three mortals that ascended to godhood. Due to circumstances of their ascension Azura cursed the entire Chimer people into Dunmer. Their skin turned ash-grey instead of golden and their eyes burned red. Their region is goverend by the Great Houses and each Great House has a part of the region that they call their own. The House in the southermost regions are known for slavery of the Argonians and Khajiit. At the time of Skyrim, they have suffered an immense volcanic eruption that destroyed a big part of their land, and their living gods are dead.

Imperials are the human race from the heartland of the continent, Cyrodiil. They were originally diverse tribes of humans that were enslaved by the Ayleids, a race of elves that once dominated the heartland. In ancient times the slaves rebelled against their elven overlords and drove them out or into extinction, after which the heartland became a human controlled region and has since been the seat of several empires. The Imperials of today are divided between hardy Colovians and noble Nibenese. The Imperial pantheon was invented by Alessia the Slave Queen and was meant to incorporate both the elven aspects they had worshipped as slaves and the Nordic pantheon of their Nord compatriots who had helped them throw off the elves. The result was the eight divines, with Akatosh the Time God as the prime deity. 

Khajiit are the cat people and according to myths created from Aldmeri stock, meaning they were originally elves. They hail from a region to the south called Elsweyr. There are sixteen different types of Khajiit, although we only ever see one specific type in each of the main games. They worship the moons whose phases determine what type of Khajiit will be born, but they also worship Azurah who created the Khajiit in the first place. Khajiit are looked down upon by many of the other races as thieves and druggies, and the Dunmer use them as slaves. 

Nords are the people of Skyrim. They came from Atmora, a frozen continent to the north, and made Skyrim their new home. At first they got along with the elves of the region, the Falmer, but then war broke out with culminated in the genocide of the elves as the Nords took Skyrim for themselves. They have since been involved with every single human empire on Tamriel. 

Orcs may be cursed elves, or they may be part of the goblin-ken, stories diverge. The most prominently accepted account among fans is that the orcs were elves who were transformed into orcs when their god Trinimac turned into Malacath. In the older games orcs weren't accepted as an intelligent race, and they were viewed like little more than goblins by the other races. The ending of Daggerfall changed that. Traditionally they live in strongholds where the chief is the only male who's allowed to father offspring. He has multiple wives and the son who bests him in combat and kills him will one day take over as the chief. The wise woman is usually the chief's mother. They are strong warriors and many serve as mercenaries in the Imperial legions. 

Finally, Redguards are the youngest race on Tamriel. They arrived in the First Era (Skyrim takes place in the Fourth) after their continent of Yokuda, to the West, sank into the ocean after a devastating civil war. Their strongest warriors of history are called Ansei and they were known to have the ability to summon a Shehai, or a spirit sword, which was basically them summoning forth a part of their own souls and fashioning it into the shape of a sword which could then be wielded. This ability was rare even in ancient times, and has been pretty much unheard of since the Second Era. 

This is all very basic and there's a lot more to be said for each race, but this post is already long enough. 

I replayed all of Starfield for Shattered Space DLC

When Shattered Space released I was deep inside Dragon Age The Veilguard, so it wasn't until very late last year that I finally picked up Starfield again. And then played nothing but for over two months. At the point of writing this it's been almost a month since I stopped playing, but I've been distracted from blogging. 

So I wasn't all that happy with my original character which brought me to the decision to simply replay the entire game from the beginning with a new character to eventually play the DLC, rather than do it on my old character. For this playthrough I also added a bunch of mods, and if you know me it's mostly UI changes and added questlines, nothing that changes the game too much. Same deal when I mod Skyrim. 

So I made a new character and started my journey, went through the entire main quest until the point of no return, all side quests, companion quests, mod quests etc, before I jumped into the DLC. Doing this was probably a really great choice because going through Shattered Space as a worshipper of the Great Serpent was eye-opening and there were so many dialogue options related to that single trait which wouldn't have been available if I wasn't devoted to the Great Serpent. And of course I had Andreja with me the whole time I was playing this DLC.

The Oracle starstation was hell. Not because it was bad but because I really really hate the no grav environments. I hate navigating them and I hate dealing with weapon recoil in them during battle. But aside from that what happened at the Oracle starstation was pretty cool and definitely invited more questions and, to me, incentive to find out more. So off we go to the Va'ruun homeworld.

Va'ruun'kai is crazy beautiful, though. With it's pink/purple sky and ebony-like creatures. I was in awe throughout most of time there. That promo picture of a citadel? It's really real. It really looks like that and it's so pretty *w* The new grenades you can make with the remains of the new Vortex enemies are really cool, and generally I enjoyed the new enemies and the reasons for how they came to be. The Promised were nice little mini bosses (or just really tough enemies) scattered throughout the world.

The main quest of the DLC then has you complete a pilgrimage followed by being accepted by each of the Houses. So, so, so many parallells to the Morrowind main quest omg. Once all of that was out of the way most of the main quest would be completed, but it should have given you incentive to explore the area and pick up a bunch of sidequests which give you more on the people and culture of the Va'ruun'kai, which in turn gives you background for how did we get to this point?! There are some real choice and consequence sprinkled in there. You can flood an entire farm as the end result of one quest or choose to save the farm, but then you'll have to stick to the status quo in the place you're at, which uuuuh... probably isn't good in the long run. Which is the lesser evil? Up to you.

The DLC has multiple endings, the impacts of which aren't readily noticeable in true Bethesda fashion. Which ending you get is up to you and the implication of each of them are some pretty great changes for the Va'ruun as a whole. 

Throughout the main story you'll get to interact with the Speaker, and each and every one of those interactions gave me strong Dagoth Ur vibes. There's really so much Morrowind in this DLC. Generally, the Va'ruun is just how they inserted Elder Scrolls into the Starfield universe. They worship the Great Serpent (that's just Satakal) and their society is run by Houses (that's just Resdayn). Not to mention that the name of the Va'ruun Ambassador in New Atlantis is Bal'Mor. Balmora. All Elder Scrolls clues. There's a lot more, but you get the idea. I really wanted to post a Va'ruun prayer or chant to the Great Serpent to pick it apart with Elder Scrolls lore, but I can't find a written version and I don't fancy watching a bunch of Youtube videos in the hopes of finding one so we'll have to make do without it. Why doesn't every game have a UESP?

After I finished the DLC I decided to play enough that I unlocked the last few achievements I was still missing. One of them was to get to level 100. I was around level 85 at the time and figured I could just do mission board things until I got to 100, but that became really repetitive really fast. So I went through the Unity and started all over again in NG+. And then I continued playing way past level 100 while waiting for Avowed to drop. 

Unfortunately, my Steam installation corrupted halfway through this playthrough, when I was mostly done with Va'ruun'kai, and I lost almost all of my screenshots. 

Ghosts S01-03

We stumbled upon this show on Netflix and thought it looked fun. It was so much fun! Netflix only had the first two seasons, but we found the third season on a different streaming platform so all good.

So the show is about a young married couple. The wife inherits an old mansion from a relative and the couple decides to move in there and make it a B&B. Only issue is that the mansion is very haunted, which the couple are blissfully unaware of until the wife has a near-death experience and comes out of it able to see and talk to ghosts. Chaos ensues.

I adore Isaac and Sasappis. 

Squid Game S02

Finally we watched the second season! It wasn't as fantastic as the first season (when is it ever?), but it was still really good and the stakes seem higher even though the game is still mostly the same.

Can't believe Gi-hun really thought all the games would be the same as the last time around. How did it never occur to him that they'd switch it up so he wouldn't have any insights to share? But tbf I didn't see it coming that the boat's captain was part of the game so eeeeehhh...

I really enjoy a lot of the characters this time around and I hope more of them survive and it won't be like last time when Gi-hun walked out the only survivor.

Yet that riot at the end doesn't look promising for everyone's survival. Can't wait for the third season!!

From S01-03

We picked up this show on a whim because the trailer looked interesting and it turned out to be so good.

So the premise is that people seemingly randomly arrive to a town with surroundings that you can't leave. Once you're there you can't get out. If you try to drive out you'll somehow end up in a circle and right back in town where you started. During the night there are monsters that come out to eat you. They look just like smiling friendly people until you get close enough and then they're just monsters with too many teeth who'll disembowel you and eat your insides. Lovely stuff. 

The first season follows a newly arrived family and their issues with accepting that they can't leave all the while figuring out more about the place. The appointed sheriff, Boyd, has been in town for quite a while and is on a similar journey to find out how the place even functions. 

The second season follows in much the same vein and towards the end of it we found it has become pretty repetitive that every new thing they try is met with eventual failure. However, the third season is when shit goes down. Every single episode was a rollercoaster and that season finale... omfg. 

Just as with Resident Alien we found the show on Netflix, but Netflix only had the first two seasons so then we had to go on a quest to see if we could find the third season anywhere. We found it on a separate streaming service, provided by one of the ordinary TV broadcasters. Signed up and paid for a month to finish the show, only to find out that despite paying this streaming service has ad breaks several times through a single episode. It's just like TV ._.

Anyway, great show. Can't wait for season four :3