For a while now, I've been working on ideas for a fanfic adaptation of Morrowind, basically taking the parameters Morrowind sets up and making a dramatic story out of that. Below is a synopsis of how I imagine the Nerevarine-Caius relationship to work. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like some input on how these ideas sound. Good? Bad? Room for improvement? Tell me.

Okay, here we go:

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Here's the character I imagine for the Nerevarine: his name is Vendal, and he grew up in the slums of the Imperial city, where the Dunmer don't have the same rights as the Imperials, and as such, developed a revolutionary disposition; he's talking all the time about the Dunmer rising up and overtaking the Imperial power structure. So when he's sent to Morrowind to work under Caius Cosades, he's indignant because he resents having to work for the government, and he sees Caius as representative of everything that's wrong with the Imperials. Likewise, Caius sees Vendal as an angry punk who doesn't know how things really are.

Over the course of the story, however, it becomes apparent that Vendal isn't the revolutionary badass he thinks he is; he talks a big game, but when he actually sees a Dunmer being beaten up and carried off to jail over something he clearly didn't do, Vendal does nothing but clam up even though he has every opportunity to stop it. Eventually, he learns what kind of sacrifice the whole thing really entails, and he learns how to be a true leader, in addition to shedding his preconceived notions about Imperials. What he doesn't realize is what's going on under the surface.

As it turns out, Vendal is being intentionally groomed by the Imperial government to act as Nerevarine to the people of Morrowind. It's an idea the Emperor and his council came up with; rally the people of Morrowind around one person so as to prevent civil unrest, and make it so that that one person is also loyal to the Empire and is willing to cowtow Morrowind's resources over to Imperial interests. So they started trawling the slum records and prison records until they found someone who suited the prophecy, and then they sent him (that is, Vendal) to Morrowind to train under one of their best agents, Caius.

Naturally, Caius thinks the idea is completely insane, but he complies out of a distorted sense of loyalty. Part of the reason Caius resents Vendal (besides thinking he's a punk) is that he hates having to put him through this, and as such, he wants to distance himself. But as they work together more and Vendal wisens up, Caius comes to respect him as a student, and on that basis, he tells Vendal the truth about what's going on and explains the whole scheme to him, considering Vendal more important than his loyalty to the Empire. And it's on that note that he leaves, going back to Cyrodiil to inform his superiors that the mission was a failure. Vendal is shocked by this revelation, but he decides to press onward, because he believes that Morrowind really does need someone to rally around, and even if he doesn't exactly believe that he's the Nerevarine, he's prepared to act as him if that's what it takes.

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So that's part one. Parts two and three involve his rise to power and attack on Dagoth Ur, but those ideas I'll save for another time.

I like it! Would definitely check it out if you end up writing it.

Bump?