The Sunbirds of Alinor : The Elder Scrolls Series Discussion

» Wed May 02, 2012 5:27 pm

Do the Thalmor still maintain a fleet of Sunbirds that sail through Oblivion/outer space? It would be nice if those magic elf starships could appear in the games sometime as either Skyrim DLC or part of TES6.

» Wed May 02, 2012 4:32 pm

I don't know, nothing has been said about them in-game. I'm not even sure what they are. A few years ago MK said they were literally giant birds made of the sun. But the recent Cyrus story paints them as flying ships.

» Wed May 02, 2012 1:18 pm

Sure they do. Always have.

That TES MMO, during the second era, well...

It takes place in Space.

Every race has their own unique vessels.

Altmer: Sunbirds, natch.

Bosmer: Sequoiashuttles

Dunmer: Skar-Destroyers

Raga: Swordfighterjets

Nord: Flying Mead Halls

Breton: Mini Adamantii

Cyrodil: Mothgalleons and Battlespires

Orcs: Dungcruisers

Argonian: Histrockets

Khajiit: Sugar Modules

Think EVE online, but actually fun.

» Wed May 02, 2012 1:08 pm

I don't know, nothing has been said about them in-game. I'm not even sure what they are. A few years ago MK said they were literally giant birds made of the sun. But the recent Cyrus story paints them as flying ships.

Perhaps they are birds made from the sun. Just suited with a deck / living quarters for the mer flying it?

» Wed May 02, 2012 1:23 pm

I would totally play a TES: Adventures game in the style of Freelancer or X3: Terran Conflict. Get on it, Bethesda.

» Wed May 02, 2012 8:54 am

If Sunbirds are made of the sun, that would mean that they would be from Aetherius. Possibly domesticated Magne Ge?

» Wed May 02, 2012 6:52 pm

Nord: Flying Mead Halls

This reminds me. I once imagined the Hall of Valor being capable of leaving Sovngarde, essentially being a weaponized, giant, flying mead hall that contains Shor's best warriors.

Surrounded by Kyne's hawks and (Tsun's?) snow whales.

» Wed May 02, 2012 6:43 pm

I don't know, nothing has been said about them in-game. I'm not even sure what they are. A few years ago MK said they were literally giant birds made of the sun. But the recent Cyrus story paints them as flying ships.

Quoted from http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1336585-tiber-septim%E2%80%99s-sword-meeting-with-cyrus-the-restless/page__p__20124928#entry20124928.

Spoiler

Phynayesteryear 4558 SIY, 3E_____ CIY, all reckonings/refractions in sorted order, en masse obliged in hope, re: the Incident of the Sura-hoon Maneuver in the Masser, and of the treaties broken there and the treaties thereafter having needs to be reinstated with new addenda, namely: the Get Out of His Way lash-tag v.2.4245, recognized now both in ThirdEmpireMen (hereafter TEM) and ThalmorEmissariesMasser (hereafter TEM), unless should there be Opportunity by One or the Other Power to capture/ kill/ interrogate-from-crew (presently, the “Carrick”) without breaking those measures now writ in the aforementioned reworked accords, on threat of annulment from the TEM, and taken from that first voidship present at Incident, these the annals-at-panel of the Alinor Sunbird SMIS Longbow, may they not rest in peace, 187 souls aboard in sum.

The mirror-make of the SMIS Longbow started up, spinning in glass collectors set to catch the sun’s warnings of threat. Its bridge unfolded, and the high elves of its helm folded out from their collective to panel stations, lathered in micro-seconds by their protocolinachs in the filaments of emergency varliance to protect their skins and uniforms from immediate death by aetherfire.

The First of First Mates slotted into his harvester and barked the obvious. “Lower the sun song fifty, or we’ll feel the singe. Rotate our prayers and bring her up. What have we got?”

The Master of Lillandrils-at-Void went to rote, his teeth a cricket quick-click sound, “Helm crew unfolded none have perished give utmost thanks to the filaments solar wings sectored out and pulling towards starboard their ‘ractals math’d and working the bridge is stage set safe for the Aldmerality talk-box if need with the mirror-make uncracked keeping luck where it should be our sunbird is a go.”

“All hands, all hands, this is the First of First Mates, Terror Thought, and we are now at full sail. Salute me and begin. Turn the Mirror and show us.”

The mirror-make’s nymic was pronounced by the helm in unison, going Logician. The Mirror, nautical once more, became pleased with itself, purring. It zoom shunted monocles on to the fifty-plus bridge crew members with its blowgun-like pneumatic brass-glass branches. Those that weren’t ready or properly trained fell screaming or in silence from shards to face or mouth. Terror Thought shook his head. “I will have to fill out forms for that! Ancestry for the fallen, though it does us no favor! Mirror on the deck.”

The Mirror blurred, warbling the Longbow for a moment. A few more were lost to nausea and the filaments ate their glands for restoration. Sectoring out further toward the upper and outer bulkheads, the Mirror made windows. “We are awake and knowing. Void-eyes on. Stare between Oblivion and Aetherius with a purpose. An unknown vessel is detected on the changewinds of our charter.”

“That’s not possible,” typed the Scribe, young by Alinor standards, never-year’d now in this, her first protector ticket across the moons. “Septim promised us no tricks.”

“It’s not Septim. Let the Lillandris bring it up on Mirror.”

Another warbling and it was spotted, the vessel that woke the sun threats at the start. Terror Thought looked, thought, and then said aloud: “What the hell is that? It looks like... Scribe, describe it for the record and then suggest.”

“Permission to talk without sense for the moment, but the vessel is mundrial, sir, wood with canvas sails, no void stones to engine it out here at all. It’s only seaworthy by every account and yet their course seems set for Masser.”

The Mirror shunted again, retracting off the monocles of those that needed to say a prayer to keep their belief-of-self intact. “What should really trouble you, Terror Thought, is that they are waving at us.”

“Explain.”

The Scribe lightly coughed for effect and cocked her head. “I don’t understand how they’re doing it, sir, but they’re sailing through the void and flying their colors on a wind that they seem to have brought from Mundus. And by waving at us, the Mirror means their flag. It bears a strange mark, seemingly scribbled in a language I can’t translate, but I infer it’s intended for Longbow. In short, they want to be seen by us, sir.”

The First of First Mates then cocked his own head, his eyes flitting bird-like from one window to another, scanning them, moving inside his own known senses.

“Hold! I see its reflection now. Give me another salute, for we are about to make history.”

“That’s a wonderful thought, sir,” the Scribe typed. “I never thought I would live to see a chapter mark. Priming the cannon; our sunbeam is already up. I will footnote now my request: your consideration for breeding with me after our triumph.”

The bridge moved across plates so that all still alive could witness the answer to the engagement. The talk-box erupted with excited pvssyr and the placement of bets in the engine room. Terror Thought sighed and pressed his heel, moving the plates back to their proper panels. Monocles socketed back in.

“I recognize the language of their rags, everyone. It’s a Yoku dare: ‘May the Devil Take the Hindmost.’ Very well, all other Thalmoric prism mandates go into crystal for the moment. Hit the solar twelvewind and give chase. We have ourselves some pirates!”

Think EVE online, but actually fun.

I want this. So much. Fly around with you guys in an arboreal spaceship? [censored] yes.

A start on the Hist skill course:
Introductory Auxinomatic Burl-Pod Piloting
Daedron-Stream Transpirational Propulsion Systems
Advanced Topics in Alkahestic-head Mistle Ejaculation Arrays
Haustorial Boarding Probes for the Preliminary Phytopirate
A Beginner's Guide to Oblivious Self-Sufficiency via Aetherial-Mycorrhizae
Issues in Metalomycelial Extraction Techniques
Utilizing Rhizomatic Endosporosis in Dynamic trans-Particulate Defense

» Wed May 02, 2012 4:12 pm

This reminds me. I once imagined the Hall of Valor being capable of leaving Sovngarde, essentially being a weaponized, giant, flying mead hall that contains Shor's best warriors.

Surrounded by Kyne's hawks and (Tsun's?) snow whales.

The Awful in the Awful Fighting was actually a mistranslation, due to changing terms for Awful. A more accurate translation would be Awesome or Awe-Inspiring.

» Wed May 02, 2012 6:51 pm

But the Sunbirds? They are birds made out of sun, but this does not mean the Altmer do not use them as ships. They're enormous, I'd imagine.

» Wed May 02, 2012 8:18 am

There appears to be a legitimate shadow history of Tamriel that's all about magical acid space travel. Sunbirds, Battlespires, and Vekhships Oh My!

Think EVE online, but actually fun.

That's a contradiction in terms.

» Wed May 02, 2012 8:39 pm

Sunbirds, the Battlespire, Vehkships, Mananauts, Dwemer 'outer realm' exploration, and the Airships. The sky is not a limit.