Hello Oblivinators, a little formal for a greeting, but I find it prudent to just "jump in" with a discussion without giving such polite people a greeting.

So here is how this thread came about: Today I stood in the Five Claws lodge. Learning about Khajiit butt-licking. But then I heard two npc's entering a rather more intellectual conversation. It went a little like this.

"Hi!"

"Hello!"

"Good to see you"

"Greetings"

"What's the news from the other parts of Tamriel?"

"Ive heard (Husked voice, looks nervously around) that........syndicates *owww, syndicates, that sounds sophisticated* of wizards...have led a boycott of Imperial goods in the land of the Altmer" [Summerset isle Lets be politically correct with Alinor, I presume]

Well, we have all heard about the latest snags of gossip: Mudcrabs, the emperors death, amongst other things

But then I thought: Yes, we joke about it, but we never actually discuss the little pieces of interesting news from Tamriel. 433 seems to be an interesting year, with a Nordic invasion of the Redoran, a boycott of goods in Alinor, and an out -of -control skooma trade in Elsewyr.

So I thought we, because we do enjoy a natter on this little corner of Tes, we should get together to discuss the more interesting (No, I am not going to have a ten-page debates on whether Mudcrabs attacks are really on the rise......) pieces of gossip going about. Are they real? What do we think?

Lets start then, on the news of a boycott of "Imperial" Goods in Alinor. For me, this rumour has always seemed a bit mysterious. In a time of great crisis (We have evidence the Oblivion crisis was even worse in Alinor than in Cyrodill) why is this nation refusing to trade goods with the empire? It makes no sense, and seems like a really stupid thing to do. Like signing your own execution. Its possible that Alinor is trying to make a statement to the Empire...maybe this is a move to independence? Im not sure.

Also, why is it "Led" by "Syndicates" of wizards. As im aware, a syndicate is a small *ish* group of people, usually bound together by something. So why not just say "A large collection" to me this suggests individual groups of mages, who are leading separate boycotts for different motives. Some may be doing for personal gain, other for political motivations. And what is an "Imperial" good? Anything that comes from the continent? Or a few very specific items?

I find this rumour very interesting, because it seems like a major political move which w only get a vague hint about. But it also doesn't seem to make much sense, so maybe its just a lie or exaggerated story?

I think your theory might be right. It makes sense. The summerset isles being in great danger, and then cutting of the supplies as a message: "We can do this on our own." And you can also find this behaviour in the altmer steriotype.