Now, more likely than not this is just wishful thinking because I'm... me... I do that a lot.

But, I was doing the Mage's Guild quests over again in Oblivion and I couldn't help but notice something.

When you talk to the head of the Leyawiin Mages Guild (Dagail) who's said to be psychic, she says this:

"I See The City in the Hand,
and the Hand in the Stars.
The Tower Guards the Gate,
But the Gate holds the key.
The King is the Key,
and the Hand guards the King."

It made no sense whatsoever, and I assumed the CoC was the Hand guarding the King (Martin), but other than that none of it made sense besides Martin being the Key.

Then I read Infernal City.

A Tower That Stops the Gates From Opening (I'm thinking it's made of White Gold)? A City in the Stars (City in the Sky, AKA Floating City)? The one who lifted the City into the Sky guarding the King?

:mellow:

It's for the MQ in OB

I've played through Oblivion, but the "City in the Hand" didn't make much sense, or the "Hand in the Stars"... not really the "Tower Guarding The Gate" either. Assuming it's an Oblivion Gate... what's the tower? In Infernal City it's mentioned that... have you read Infernal City? Don't wanna spoil it for anybody.

I'm thinking it has something to do with Infernal City. :shrug:

You're right when you said that it was made of White Gold- you're talking about White Gold Tower, that bi-i-ig tower in the middle of the Imperial City, that you can see from (almost) anywhere in Cyrodiil. The City in the Hand could refer to several things, especially when the last lines are taken into account- but more than likely it refers to the PC. "The Hand in the Stars" could be taken as "marked by the Stars"- at the very beginning, Uriel Septum asks what your birthsign is. The Gate that holds the Key is... well, let's just say it pops up near Bruma for now. The King (Martin) is also the key, but for a different lock than the one that comes from the Gate.

So...

"I see the city in the hand/ The hand in the Stars" could read as "The fate of the Imperial City is in hands of the PC"
"The Tower Guards the Gate/ But the gate holds the Key" could read as "White Gold Tower (A symbol of the Emporer) keeps Oblivion from appearing, but the Great Gate from Oblivion holds an important object"
"The King is the Key/ and the Hand Guards the King" could read as "Martin is important, and the PC protects Martin"

This all will make sense if you've played through the MQ.

Nvm, ninja'd. Marss got it good.

:shrug: I've played through the MQ a buncha times. I just thought it was kinda odd how it seem like it mighta linked to Infernal City.

Martin isn't a king though, and he didn't inherit a kingly throne.

You have a good theory, Martut, but way back when they were making Oblivion they were thinking of the plot for a book that would be written many, many years later.

He was the King who was being usurped from the Rebel, Mankark.

But you'd have to be a king to be a king who is being usurped by Mankark the rebel.

Maybe it was gonna be a game for in-between but then they just scrapped it and changed it into 2 books....

I think it's funny that there are so many open-ended possibilities in everything... but very few answers. There's always a "maybe..." "what if?" or "Not exactly because..." :shrug:

I don't think it can really be proved anyway, I was just all hyped up because it was ironic to me, and then I thought that could have been carefully placed, or maybe it's just a coincidence. We'll never really know anyway.

I doubt they were even thinking of the Infernal City for a game concept, because it was Greg Keys, the author, who came up with the idea. He was told some basic lore about what happened after OB, but the whole floating city thing was his baby, and he didn't start on the book until long after Oblivion's release.

Actually, it's Beth's story-line. He was the one who wrote it to words.

Really? I thought he proposed several ideas for the book's plot, and Bethesda thought his idea for The Infernal City was the best.

"Things were pretty wide open, in terms of the story I could tell. I was given a preliminary outline of history after Oblivion, but I was also told that some of it was negotiable. I wrote a number of different short proposals, which were reviewed by my editor and the guys at Bethesda. Once the basic idea was settled on, I wrote a longer, more detailed outline, which then went through a few changes."

http://www.imperial-library.info/interviews-greg-keyes

Or am I interpreting that wrong? :huh:

Looks like you are right.

Okay, looks like we're both right.

How are we both right? We both said different things...Didn't we? :huh:

(Please excuse me if this is a dumb question - it's 3:17 AM and I'm a little bit out of it)

You said he made the story-line, I said he didn't and that it was Beth. What the interview said is that Beth laid down some things that happen afterwards, and he fills in the rest.