A Traveller's Tales


Foreword: The following volume contains a collection of tales concerning the life and times of one of the most mysterious figures in Nirn's history; Attilus Facian. The tales recorded in this book represents the sum total of everything we know of this man after his final appearance on the imperial census at the age of 21. Extracting the truth from the legends that surround the life of Attilus is difficult. We can say for certain that he was a very learned man who spent his life travelling from place to place although in search of what we couldn't say. We also know that, during his early life Attilus was the son of one of the many minor Colovian nobles who would begin to flex their muscles in the coming years, after the assassination of the Champion, finally put to rest any hopes of re-establishing the old Empire.

The unrest however was still several years away however when the young Attilus, unusual even then in that he was a scholar without also being a potent magician, finally left home, leaving the future maintenance of his father's estate to his elder brother, a far more practical figure by the name of Thaddeus.

No doubt you are already familiar with many of the stories contained within this heavy volume for they have been passed down for generations amongst a hugely diverse range of cultures, each with their own set of myths and legends surrounding the life of Attilus, of deeds both good and evil. Whether or not Attilus truly committed all the deeds with which he is credited has been called into question by many scholars over the years and, it must be admitted that many of them are rather farfetched, especially as the chronicles reach the end of his life and begin to contradict themselves within the continuity of individual cultures and even the records of those said to be there at his death. There is however, no doubt that Attilus was a great man and that his legacy will carry on for generations to come.

Velrathi Hleran, Librarian to the Duke of Colovia



This is the idea for the beginning of a series of short-ish roleplays hosted by me. The idea is that we are following the disparate events of the life of Attilus Facian, a scholar and a man whose influence on the future history of Nirn in this timeline rivals that of anyone who failed to achieve godhood during their lives. They are to be set in a time just following the untimely death of the Champion of Cyrodil, the last great figurehead of Imperial Tamriel.

Attilus is on a quest of sorts, the details of which will not be made known at this time, however the story in much the same way as the myths about King Arthur and his knights ? disparate yet interconnected. This means that the overall story is very flexible and it can, and will, jump genres and scale a lot to keep things interesting.

EDIT for clarity

Attilus is by no means the main character of the individual rps. The micro rps themselves will be based around your characters with myself playing Attilus and any roles people don't fancy picking up upon.

As other rpers you won't be playing groupies (although some characters might end up forming a party with him... dunno yet)

It's difficult to explain the general idea because every single mini rp will be different. I intended to get a small starting group of roleplayers together before I began so that I could find out their preferences - this really is that flexible, the individual tales can be about almost anything.

I'll write up an idea for the first tale soon but think of the tales like this: If you've ever read Foundation by Isaac Asimov then you'll understand sort of what I'm aiming for. The book as a whole was simply short stories focussing on the great individuals of the time and how they solved the various crises that afflicted the Foundation. The thread connecting them together was the slow expansion and development of the Foundation's empire, this would be the equivalent of Attilus. Aided or abetted by the scholar in some way, we follow the lives of various people as they try to reach their own varied goals. It could be anything from an unsubtle rip off of Romeo and Juliet - two youths tragically manipulated by Attilus from the shadows to fall in love and sacrifice themselves to force and end to some larger civil warring to a group of dungeon delvers recieving aid from a strange man who was seemingly slightly prescient to the assassination of a family of nobles. It depends on the feedback I get from people.

The overall plot, I'd rether not reveal to everyone, if you really want to know, pm me and I shall give you my ideas. All I shall say it that it involves The Tower from the lore.

I could try to be up for it...

Hm. I like the idea of the RP not lasting too long, it keeps it fresh. I'd be happy to give it a shot.

Well, to say something other than that I am up for it if you need people, RPs generally shouldn't focus around a single person. Novels can be easily character driven, since you know all the characters and how they'll interact, but with RPers you need more of an event or a goal. People aren't going to like being minor players in this one important person's life, especially if they have no idea who he is or what role they'll play in the story. I understand your foreward isn't yet finished, but unless you give people a reason to be there beyond this one guy and his adventures, it doesn't sound all that exciting. Not to say that it isn't an exciting story, but what's fun to read and what's fun to RP are two completely different things.

I'm sure you could make a very fun and exciting plot, but you aren't advertising it in the best of ways. All we know is that he is a mysterious figure on a quest, and honestly the only part of the idea that attracts me is that little bit about him failing to achieve godhood. Lore has a lot of great stuff on that subject, but I'm sure you're familiar with it already.

So, not to say that I don't trust you to make a good RP, it's just that no matter your reputation you need to pull people in. And as fun as all this mystery is, it's not that attractive in roleplaying. There can be some things that the RPers shouldn't know, and should be surprised by, but overall it's more important to make it look interesting than to make it enigmatic.

All in all I'd still join, but I join seventy percent of the roleplays I see. When you revise your OP you need to give us an idea of this plot, at least the first one or an overall outline (not too far in, of course), and an idea of what role we play in this. Are we this guy's groupies? Or are we trying to find him? What are we going to be doing as the players?

Thanks, it sounds promising, I'm looking forward to it nonetheless.

I can really see this working out if we are indeed playing minor characters to one hero's story: We are the "BLOODY PEASANTS!" designed to put Gary Stu back in his place! Atillus will have to earn his position as "Greatest thing to Happen to Tamriel since The Hero of All Time" (Honestly, no TES PC has ever come close to the guy from Arena in awesomeness...)

Editted uch of this into the original post...

Right, thanks for the replies. I realise I probably haven't put across my ideas very well in that introduction so there's a few things to clear up. Attilus is by no means the character of the individual rps. For the series, yes and I assure you that when and if we reach to overall conclusion then he will have earned his title. The micro rps themselves will be based around your characters with myself playing Attilus and any roles people don't fancy picking up upon.

As other rpers you won't be playing groupies (although some characters might end up forming a party with him... dunno yet)

It's difficult to explain the general idea because every single mini rp will be different. I intended to get a small starting group of roleplayers together before I began so that I could find out their preferences - this really is that flexible, the individual tales can be about almost anything.

I'll write up an idea for the first tale soon but think of the tales like this: If you've ever read Foundation by Isaac Asimov then you'll understand sort of what I'm aiming for. The book as a whole was simply short stories focussing on the great individuals of the time and how they solved the various crises that afflicted the Foundation. The thread connecting them together was the slow expansion and development of the Foundation's empire, this would be the equivalent of Attilus. Aided or abetted by the scholar in some way, we follow the lives of various people as they try to reach their own varied goals. It could be anything from an unsubtle rip off of Romeo and Juliet - two youths tragically manipulated by Attilus from the shadows to fall in love and sacrifice themselves to force and end to some larger civil warring to a group of dungeon delvers recieving aid from a strange man who was seemingly slightly prescient to the assassination of a family of nobles. It depends on the feedback I get from people.

The overall plot, I'd rether not reveal to everyone, if you really want to know, pm me and I shall give you my ideas. All I shall say it that it involves The Tower from the lore.

Hopefully this explains things a bit better.

At this moment in time, ideas for the original rp are;



The murder of the Archmage


Follows the course of an Imperial murder investigation carried out by some of you with myself acting in the role of DM


The criminal side of the arena

You play the roles of two gangs and the Ex-arena champion (he just lost for the first time and guess how he was making extra money besides his winnings) and some of his friends if we need extra roles.


A Rising star
The tale of the cut-throat rivalries between a group of courtiers to one of the Counts all vying for favour.

and anything you suggest that I like

Sounds reasonable, a good break from the normal long winded adventure RPs that rarely manage to finish. I'm glad we have that straightened out, I had suspected that this was the case, but I wanted to clarify for my and others' sake. Thank you for understanding.

All that aside, I like the idea of this powerful and weird manipulative guy working from the shadows, and all we see are the effects. I relate far too much to this book, but it also reminds me of the Count of Monte Cristo, in how the Count always plays a significant role in seemingly unrelated stories, but in the end they all come together for the main plot, in a way you did not expect.

The Tower, you say? I am quite honestly a great fan of the Tower, perhaps this will be a fun way to teach some of the less informed what it's all about. I've always wanted to meet a Thief (Vivec/Vehk didn't cut it for me in Morrowind)

Well then, I'll drop as many ideas as I can think of then, this should be fun Is there any specific location or theme we should focus on, or is it just free for all? I'll go ahead and assume the latter and post some ideas of my own then:

Drug War in Senchal

The Golden Cat has recently been given authority by the Mane, becoming governor of Senchal in exchange for cleaning up the city. On the surface it appears that the Golden Cat is doing an admirable job, the dirty back streets of the bustling harbor town have grown into luxurious resorts and seemingly honest harbors, but could he have malevolent intentions?


Uprising of the Forebears

Before Hammerfell was conquered by the Third Empire, the Ra Gada warriors, a people known as the Forebears, rose up against the ruling class, the Totambu, or Crowns. The Ra Gada Forebears took the Crowns capital in a bloody siege, killing the Crown's king, Thassad II. His son, Prince A'tor, attempted to retake the city, but was thwarted by the combined forces of the Forebears and the Empire at the battle of Hunding Bay. Tiber Septim then made peace between the two groups, and Hammerfell became a part of the Empire.

However, such peace was not to last. Though the Ra Gada have dwindled in number, they have found a charismatic new leader, and the love of the erratic desert people of Hammerfell. The remains of the Forebears have trained the desert folk in the ways of the Ra Gada, and though the people could not hope to master it completely, they are deadly warriors nonetheless. Now this new force threatens to break the peace of the province, and with the Empire on the verge of crumbling, the merchants and diplomats of the Crowns must defend their homes from the new threat.

(A bit too big, perhaps, but this is one of my favorite parts of lore. If any of you have ever read the first Dune, it's a bit like that, substitute the Ra Gada for Paul and his weirding ways, House Harkonnen with the Crowns, the other Houses with Wayrest and Daggerfall, and the Empire with... the Empire. It's just an idea to consider, thought I throw it out there)


Fall of the Nerevarine

(Assuming we are not using the events of the new book)

Morrowind has never been a peaceful province, its Great Houses all vying for more power, the repressed Ashlanders striking out at the civilized folk, and tensions on the borders making for a land torn by chaos and confusion. It seemed the only thing keeping it together were the Tribunal, those mortals turned to gods, betrayers of Lord Indoril Nerevar. However, their sin was not to go unpunished, and the story of the Nerevarine is known to every mortal on Tamriel. The great Hortator, Nerevar reborn, hero of the Ash tribes, who put an end to the Blight and defeated Dagoth Ur and his Sixth House at Red Mountain, and took away the divinity of the Tribunal. Now Sotha Sil and Almalexia are dead, killed by the Nerevarine, and the great warrior poet is nowhere to be found. The people are in uproar, the glue holding the country together is falling apart, and King Helseth, in a panic, has killed the last hope of the Dunmer, the Nerevarine.

The Houses are at each others' throats, the King cannot control his people, and the Ashlanders are swooping down from the north, a wanton swath of destruction through Vvardenfell. However, the Nerevarine left a son, and the people can only pray Vehk has not left them.

(Not sure what you would want to do with this, but this is another idea I had floating around. I thought that if you wanted to focus on the Tower, Vivec would be a great guy to see. Once again, ignore it if you like, it's probably a little too big for what you're going for, I don't mind one bit)


I have a few more ideas, but I wanted to see what kind of stuff you're looking for before I post a whole lot. Thanks.

Hiya, I'm back from Liverpool, which is where I've been for the past couple of days (surprisingly nobody stole anything off me whilst I was there O.o)

Just like to say thanks for the suggestion Darkom, I'm keeping a list of everything suggested so far and indeed yours are all good additions, the third one especially would be a nice way to advance the plot. I was thinking about starting small and steadily increasing in the scale of the rp until we reach our climix with my final tale. So I'm willing to take on board literally any suggestions so long as it s possible that the events described in the tale could have some sort of vaguely foreseeable major political impact on the world further along its chain of events - butterfly flapping its wings in the amazon style...

I'd love to use this series as a way to present people with some potentially unusual styles of rp, given their planned individual lengths so unusual settings or genres other than the standard adventure style would be fantastic. i.e. suggest it and I'll make it work

I think I'll write up the first rp as an interest check over the next couple of days and get it going as soon as I have enough people.

Well then, I'm really liking the way you have set this up. I think I finally understand what all you are trying to do, and I must say it sounds impressive. It's like taking all the little RP ideas people get and putting them all together in one series. If you need any further help I'm usually available, though school is going to press down even harder in the coming months.

Well then, I'll see if I can rally up a few more ideas:

Battle for Leyawiin

Leyawiin is located on a narrow strip of Cyrodiil between Elsweyr and the Black Marsh known as the trans-Niben. The city was only recently made a part of the Empire, a part of a deal between the Mane and the Emperor. Since then many citizens of the Empire have moved into the city, and Count Marius Caro has been given control over the city, but many Khajiit still believe Leyawiin is the rightful property of Elsweyr. A small group of such Khajiit have formed into the infamous Renrijra Krin, a radical gang whose main goal is the terrorism of Leyawiin and the retaking of the city for the Khajiit.

The group has actually released a http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Ahzirr_Traajijazeridetailing their efforts, including a list of their "thjizzrini", or foolish concepts, the closest thing a Khajiit has to rules. Their name means "The Mercenary's Grin", and they shall not be stopped.


Priestess of Lorkhan

In Skyrim, Lorkhan is one of the most revered gods. Known as Shor, God of the Underworld, the Nords revere him as the creator of mankind, and the warrior king that led them against the Aldmeri in early times. In the new, harsh, more secular times of the fourth era, many Nords turn to their old gods for support. And many among them are all too eager to take positions of leadership within the radical orders. One such religious leader is the self proclaimed Priestess of Lorkhan, Jsashe, who is proving far more troublesome to Skyrim's tribal council than can be ignored.

Jsashe has taken control of many cities around central Skyrim, including Whiterun and Blackmoor, and has recently grown more vicious in her rebellion against the loose confederation of city states that make up the Nordic government. Surely retaliation must follow.


That's all for now, I've exhausted my list of lore based ideas, now I'll need to actually use my imagination for the rest

Thanks, looks good :goodjob:

The idea sounds interesting enough but I have to ask for a bit of clarity in regards to the role of Attilus in the RP. I get that each micro RP will contribute in some way to a larger plot much like individual books in a series contribute to their overall theme (though the RP would be more directly linked as though they were within a single book). However, I'm not sure that I fully grasp Attilus' involvement. Is it as simple as the character's RPing an event similar to, for example, being a group of adventurers delving into a dungeon for treasure when they stumble upon Attilus or something left behind by him in his preceding visit and later they continue to bump into him or his legacy as their quest weaves in and out of his perhaps forcing them to join forces once or twice?

In regards to Darkom's suggestions; The Fall of the Nerevarine is particularly intriguing for me since Morrowind was my first experience in TES and did quite a job of hooking me on the lore of the TES universe. I would be sad to see the Nerevarine murdered (and would contend the rather absurd idea that an assassin could kill a figure whom gods, be they false or true, failed to. I also feel an aversion to the murder of the Champion of Cyrodiil on the same grounds, seeing as he survived multiple forays into the realm of Oblivion, the siege of the Imperial City, escorted the Septim heir beyond a Daedric Prince's actual physical reach, and was the only being left standing in the Temple of the One after watching the avatars of two gods clash as he stood at their feet) and think it would be more believable that he would just disappear since it leaves the same uncertainty of events and beliefs that Morrowind drew me in with. However, how would Attilus tie into this plotline?

The Criminal Side of the Arena - One problem with this idea is that the Arena is live or die. If the Arena Grand Champion has lost a match, he's also lost his life. Unless, of course, the Arena functions more like the Roman Arena in which combatants could be granted mercy or executed. If the Emperor and all of his heirs are dead, however, who would be giving the thumbs up or down? Ocato?

If you're trying to make micro RP's it would probably be more prudent to take one of Darkom's grander ideas and use it as the larger plot that all the little RP's add to in some way. Of course, then we're left wondering what Attilus is doing in any of these situations and how does it make him such a great character without belittling the RPers themselves? I think there are some more questions to be ironed out before trying to dive into the idea. The micro RP shouldn't be very restrictive or complicated, as the OP said, but the grand scale of the story they contribute to will be notably more involved, I think.

And as to Attilus' involvement, I think he is going to play a major role merely because he wants to be there, he enjoys playing with history. At least, that would be my favorite idea, it's always a fun character to look at

He would show up in Morrowind because he knows that there is a lot of upheaval, and he wants in on that. I'm not entirely sure of Evil's ideas, and hold a certain trust in him to make it interesting without me knowing how, but I do know that it should work well. Just hold a little disbelief, and just go with it What could go wrong, so long as the RPers play along?

Alright. Just the statement in the OP made we wonder since Evil mentioned some of the players possibly partying with Attilus. Attilus, then, is just another RP character that Evil is interested in playing who happens to have more control over events than the other players?

Yes, essentially. The mention of partying was me thinking that characters might end up tagging along with him through several rps should it seem likely. I on the details of the longer term story I want to see how the first few parts pan out before setting too much in stone, as darkom said. It's basically a collection of mini rps strung together by an overacring plot

I hate to be a bother, but are you still planning on doing this, Evil? If you are concerned with too few people signing up I would attribute a lot of that to the holidays. Now that they're done people should be returning, and something like this is difficult to pass up

If not I understand, but I would still love to take part. Thanks :goodjob:

Yeah, I am still going with this, sorry about the wait. I've had a busy week and intermittent internet due to snowfall, which hasn't helped much

The difficulty has been trying to come up with an interesting way to kick off with something fairly plot relevant. I doubt that many people would join something too run of the mill, simply on the promise that future rps will be more interesting. I gotta get y'all hooked

I would suggest starting with something small that is heavily focused around the main guy, perhaps in his first quest to achieve godhood. Perhaps starting at White Gold or a similar Tower? A Tower by any other name is still a Tower, afterall, and though the Thief tries to take the Secret Stone, even if he fails it is an interesting RP

Though you can keep the Tower and the Towers separate if you like, I don't mind at all. The Tower is just as much a physical thing as it is a metaphorical one, and I can see how the aspiring main guy would try to find the Tower starting at a Tower. Just a thought

thanks, for the suggestions I'll definately get this done soon

This whole thing just seems to be getting better and better. Darkom, I really do like the sounds of your ideas, especially the Battle for Leyawiin as the Argonian character I've been thinking of would fit nicely into this racial brawl. One of the other reasons I like this RP is so I can test out different RP builds and see which types of character I enjoy playing as. Good luck Evil.