So about Seranas age:
Matt Grandstaff (Gstaff): "The intention was that Serana went to sleep in the late second era, between the Reman and Septim empires. Her initial dialogue is just her surprise that there’s an Empire in Cyrodil, as there hadn't been when she went to sleep."
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Yeah, that really only establishes when Valerica put her away, not how old Serana really is. But the "Empire? Whut?" bit doesn't really support or refute her being centuries or even millennia older either way. It's still up in the air on how old she really is. She mentions nothing about the Planemeld in TESO, though, but that may just be because Dawnguard's plot, dialog, characters and whatnot were written before or without collaboration from TESO's writers.
Edited by MadCat221
There seems to be disagreement as to whether or not Miraak is Shouting when he steals the souls of his dragons.
I agree it is strange that Miraak is using four words instead of three, but everything else matches up.
Miraak speaks in Draconic, and a wave of energy escapes his mouth. Shortly afterwords, something magical happens, in this case he steals a dragon's soul. That sounds like the definition of a Shout to me.
Just because the Last Dragonborn can't do it, doesn't mean it's not a Shout. Alduin has three abilities that, gameplay wise, aren't considered Shouts, but as far as lore is concerned, he is indeed Shouting. (Dragon Resurrection, Dragon Storm Call, and Mist Summon). I don't see what makes this any different other than using a fourth word.
The UESP even considers it a Shout, as does the Elder Scrolls Wikia. I honestly think it's meant to be a Shout. Consider it a draconic version of Soul Tear.
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I agree exactly. It seems to work the same way as all other Shouts. Nothing says that a Shout always has to use 3 words: heck, you can use one or two words at a time if you want, so it's not unreasonable to think that Miraak could do a Shout with four.
It is not a Shout. It is explicitly labeled "FakeShout" and is not a Shout at all, and there is refined translation, stating he says "Your soul is mine to devour". The only other time a Shout appears not as an actual mechanical Shout in the game is "Slen Tiid Vo", and it much more properly fits the lore of how a Shout works (three one-syllable dragon-tongue words). Occam's Razor cuts the assertion that it's a "four-word shout" to ribbons.
Saying "Three words doesn't mean anything because two words" doesn't mean anything either, for that matter, because the rules for the Thu'um allow for not using all three Words of Power.
Here are some screenshots of those bits in question:
Fake Shout
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It doesn't even state the (FAAAAKE
◊) "Words of Power" in its name, it just has leftovers from what it was copied from: Krii, the first word of Marked For Death.
Your Soul Is Mine To Devour
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See? "Ziil Los Di Du" = "Your Soul Is Mine To Devour." It is a structured sentence, which no actual Shout is. Not even a three-word shout like the only other "not actually mechanically a Shout in the engine" that Alduin uses to resurrect dragons... because this isn't a Shout.
The UESP, despite being of far better caliber than TES Wiki, is still ultimately a wiki, subject to all the pitfalls pertaining to accuracy that such a state of being entails. That's why we on the Unofficial Patch Project do not consider bug reports there as definitive diagnoses. Speaking of which... I'll have to go there and fix this as well.
Not. A. Shout.
Edited by MadCat221
Okay, I was mistaken. there is a SHOU form object for this...
...but it just uses the operant word FAKE even more. And again doesn't even give it a name, leaving what it was copied from in place: this time it was from Whirlwind Sprint.
More Fakery
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And to prove this is indeed the "Shout" being used here, here's the action that makes him use this clearly labeled Fake shout. Notice how the RAI package name also uses that one special word:
Actual point of application of the FAKE Shout
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Anyone with the CK and Dragonborn can confirm this, as my screenshots clearly lay out where I went to find these pieces of information.
Look at all the fakes it gives.
Edited by MadCat221
Silverevilchao
I disagree with Teldryn Sero's Culture Blind entry. It's not that he doesn't know that the Nords bury their dead, it's that he can't comprehend the idea. Likewise, it's not that he doesn't know that produce can be grown in ash-free soil, it's that he's expressing incredulity (in his own backhanded manner) that they can even do it to begin with.
Video games are my life.
intrepid sword
Are we sure that the First Dragonborn is Konahrik?
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I'll remove that picture, then, I just realized that too. I believe that's the picture the Wiki had at the time I added it; I didn't have the expansion yet so I had no clue what anyone looked like.
Could we maybe add characters from creation club/aniversary edition. The UESP, considers it valid lore, and I think Thoron is a character worth documenting.