Skyrim: Being an Imperial WORTH IT? - Elder Scrolls Lore

[Music] so you've clicked on this video but rather than coming to our channel your soul has been transported into the Elder Scrolls universe you're not a Daedra but a soul destined to enter a mortal body in mundus but which mortal body do you pick which of the Tamriel ik races would you deem ideal for the life that you would want to live what is up guys and welcome back to photo Muppet my name is Scott and today we have installment number six of our races worth it series we've discussed whether or not being a vampire or werewolf is worth it in the past but what about the races themselves if I could be a soul transported to the Elder Scrolls world and born as one of the major ten playable races of Tamriel which race would I want to be we'll touch on the many variables and many potential outcomes and also various preferences so let's begin discussing the benefits and detriments to living life as an imperial is being an imperial worth it so after seven plus years of Skyrim we know which races are best and least beneficial in terms of gameplay statistics and such but what about within a law context what challenges does this race face what benefits what is their upbringing like to make things easier we will assume you grow up in your own homelands for example a dunmer from morrowind or Bosma from Valen wood and secondly we will assume that you are born in the present day and will judge these variables in a contemporary context this means the two hundred and first year of the fourth era which is in fact the time when the Elder Scrolls five star M is set but yes that's all we need to know for now time to get down to the good stuff so for this video if we were a soul in the Elder Scrolls universe that could choose to be any of the playable races would being an imperial be worth it let's begin like the diamond in the center of the amulet of Kings Cyrodiil is the heart of the Septim Empire and Tamriel still largely forested and almost landlocked the beauty of the land has been sung of since time immemorial three empires have wielded their power from the strategic center of the continent so it is little wonder that Cyrodiil is widely known simply as the Imperial province the Imperials are the educated and well-spoken natives of the civilized cosmopolitan province in Tamriel's heartland Imperials are known for their enlightened rule of law and government and the discipline and training of this and armies though physically less imposing than the other races they are shrewd diplomats and traders their legions have enabled them to subdue all other nations and races of Tamriel and to have erected the monument to peace and prosperity that comprises the glorious Empire when you think of the human races of Tamriel the first to come to mind are likely the Imperials the Nords are heavily influenced by their northern at Morin roots the Breton's are only Half Men and the Red Guards retain much of their you coudn't heritage but the Imperials of Cyrodiil are as close as you'll come to finding the natural descendants of the early medic settlers of Tamriel to be born as a human in Cyrodiil during the late Maratha can too early first errors would not have been very desirable and if the question was need born in cyrodiil is it worth it the answer would a hundred percent be no living without pointed ears during the reign of the Ahlers is among the worst fates imaginable for Tamriel ik mortals throughout history the eyelids grew to such prosperity partially thanks to the surplus of free labor provided by the systematic enslavement of every needed settlement in the province if agricultural work and to the building and maintaining of infrastructure wasn't enough the a leads in a hubris soon took their subjugation of humans to a new level of cruelty they used to the needs for entertainment - and by entertainment I mean art tortures various settlements became famous for their particular and elaborate methods of torturing their slaves mora house lists some of these sadistic pleasures there were the whaling wheels of vin diesel and the gut gardens of surcin and flesh sculpture which was everywhere among the slaves of the eyelids in those days or worse the realms of the fire King had who'll wear the be getting of drugs drawn from the admixture of day drones into living hosts let one inhale new visions of torment and children were set aflame for nighttime tiger sport this same Mora house would soon become a cultural hero of the Imperials and would aid Saint Alicia in her slave revolt but to be born before this insurrection was to almost certainly live a miserable short life of strife and suffering under the Elysian Empire the first Empire of Cyrodiil things began to look up for the human race they drove the a leads out of Cyrodiil and created a province free from elven oppression since then the quality of life for the average Imperial has improved greatly initially the needs in proto nautic ancestors of modern-day Imperials were united but soon cyrodiil was divided between east and west this is a key distinction that wasn't very well fleshed out in the Elder Scrolls for oblivion in Oblivion cyrodiil in the empire were for the most part just fantasy versions of the Roman Empire but in the law the West of Cyrodiil is vastly different to the east if you could see the cultures side-by-side you'd think there were different provinces altogether the West of Cyrodiil is inhabited by the clove Ian's while the East is populated by the Nipponese the distinction is important because even though we say you will be born in your races homeland being born in the cloven Highlands would be totally unlike being born in a Nibin before we tackle the differences between the two there are some general statements that we can make about Cyrodiil as a whole the first thing is serie doors location relative to every other province Cyrodiil lies at the heart of Tamriel and many Imperials would claim that it is the heart of autumn erm hence the nickname the starry heart of known the city at the heart of the heartlands is the Imperial City one of the biggest in Tamriel with a multitude of districts and a huge population assuming you aren't an orphan street urchin that the Imperial City would be quite the nice place to call home despite serving as a reminder of your ancestors enslavement the white gold tower is also one of the wonders of the world with the exception of the Blackwood region in the south east sea rodiles geography predominantly consists of verdant green fields dense woodlands farms vineyards and forested hills when compared to its various neighbours Syrah deals landscapes and climate are optimal however this wasn't always the case if we refer to the first edition of the pocket guide to the Empire we get this description of ceará Dill's geography it is the largest region of the continent and most is endless jungle its center the grassland of the Nibin a valley is enclosed by an equatorial rain forest and broken up by rivers as one travels south along these rivers the more subtropical it becomes until finally the land gives way to the swamps of Argonia and the placid waters of the Topol Bay the elevation rises gradually to the west and sharply to the north between its western coast and its central valley there are all manner of deciduous forests and mangroves sparser towards the ocean the western coast is a wet dry area and from rehad border to anvil to the northernmost veil in wood villages forest fires are common in the summer there are a few major roads to the west river paths to the north and even a canopy tunnel to the velocity winds but most of Cyrodiil is a river based society surrounded by jungle were the Imperial historians responsible for writing the pocket guide lost were they accidentally describing Valen wood and black marsh if we look at sea Radel at the end of the third era we see scarce few of these features in the landscape it turns out that the historians were not mistaken initially the discrepancies were explained away by transcription errors later scholars post the idea that the white gold tower itself adapted the climate to suit the region's inhabitants but the most recent and most trusted theory is also the most bizarre this notion is that the geography was terraformed by the powerful emperor named Tiber Septim who later became the god Talos the most explicit source to suggest this is the third book of the mythic dawn commentaries while this book is cryptic there are truths hidden in the obscure wording the line reads Kim those who know it can reshape the land witnessed the home of the Red King once jungled what this essentially is saying is that in ascending to godhood if the Red King Talos was able to reshape and change cyrodiil to suit his specifications another source actually features a direct quote from Tiber Septim alone this source would be considered unofficial however the mythic dawn commentaries seem to have proved the validity of it this source is called from the many headed Talos and is written by Michael Kirkbride but was reaffirmed by harm skiers ranting Telos says this to his loyal captain's after conquering somerset and ass man you said let me show you the power of tower storm crown born of the north where my breath is long winter i breathe now in royalty and reshape this land which is mine I do this for you red legions for I love you this theory for serials physical transformation seems to be the most solid and with this in mind we can make the case that being an imperial born in Serie Dell is well worth it because your homeland was literally built to suit your races preferences so we know the geography of Cyrodiil is a big advantage but what about their cultures and societies well Imperials across the entire province are considered a generally clever and industrious they are typically well educated and well-spoken though this of course would be subject to change as you venture further from the major cities don't expect an impressive vernacular from the common plebs Imperial culture breeds Congeniality and there is an innate ability for diplomacy in all Imperials this racial trait actually plays a bigger part in their reception in other provinces so if you are born an imperial in which to travel across Tamriel you have a significant advantage for you will likely be gifted in trading and will likely be welcomed with more open arms at ports across Tamriel your talent as a merchant is great for the economy of the provinces you visit and will undoubtedly be great for lining your own pockets and funding your next adventure and while we're on this topic of traveling being a human will always brings some animosity from certain groups of elves this is inevitable but you won't be experiencing any real hatred from inhabitants of the other provinces the Empire has existed in some form for so long that most of ceará Dells neighbors are used to seeing Imperials wandering around but anyways back to the society and culture cyrodiil central position in Tamriel as well as the imperial affinity for bartering means Commerce and mercantilism is at the core of Imperial culture the east and west of Cyrodiil has been divided and unified multiple times throughout history but regardless the cultures vary greatly in the cloven Highlands and the Nibin a the clove ian's share a stronger connection to the Nords than the Nipponese do and they prefer warfare and plundering to magic and academic pursuits the clove Ian's are the backbone of the provinces working force and much of ceará Del's architecture and equipment is supplied by the clove Ian's they're cloven wood throughout the Great forest loggers can be found in the region the cloven estates once had individual kings and they were constantly competing for power among the clove Ian's honor and heroism of virtues and you will usually find a statue dedicated to a cloven patron or legend their architecture is simple and practical and their cities follow the classic medieval fantasy aesthetic the people of the Nibin in eastern sierra del are less pragmatic and less prone to getting their hands dirty with manual labor their culture revolves around philosophy unique customs and ceremonies and the esoteric aspects of life magic is fundamental to the Nibin ease and battle majors make up the ruling class and cultural leaders of the east in the modern day the divide between the two cultures is less so strong but the cultural roots of East and West will always exist to some extent whichever side of Cyrodiil you are born into I'd argue that life would be pretty good in terms of potential the final thing to consider when asking whether or not it's worth being an Imperial in the present day is the current state of the Empire your homeland is weakened and there is the very real threat that may cause the Empire over the coming years to fall entirely with Syria doll becoming a land under elven control for the first time since the ancient alerts if this hypothetical were to come true life for an imperial could be considerably worse than it is now there is also the fact that with the exception of some reports and snippets of dialogue in Skyrim we really don't know how well sir Adel is doing since the Great War and the signing of the white gold Concordat we only have sources such as Cicero's journal which describes the state of lawlessness that has erupted in places like Brazil so it's likely that after the damage of the Great War it really depends on which city you are particularly from but with all these considerations in mind do I think being an Imperial is worth it well no matter which human race you choose there will always be the guaranteed drawback of the human lifespan compared to elves who can live for centuries being a man and living to ad if you're lucky is definitely not ideal when you have the choice even with their diplomatic advantages and their status as a respectable race with a relatively prosperous homeland it's hard to compensate for such a glaring flaw for me personally if I were choosing to be one of the races of men Imperial would actually be at the bottom of my list considering that the Breton's have added magical bonuses from their elven ancestry and Nords and Red Guards are generally more physically robust however as an imperial you don't need to worry about being born in the middle of a scorching desert or a frozen wasteland and the potential of a successful life as a wealthy merchant is a tantalizing one but still I think being an imperial isn't particularly worth it while it's not an awful option it just doesn't take the cake compared to the other available options what do you guys think how does life as an imperial sound to you let me know down in the comments below thank you so much for watching guys and also in the comments tell me which race you would like to see discussed next if you're enjoying the series liking the video is a great way to tell us and we appreciate it massively thanks again for watching my name is Scott from fudge Muppet and I'll be back to nerd out with you again next time

Channel: FudgeMuppet

Views: 212,313

Keywords: skyrim, elder scrolls, elder scrolls lore, skyrim lore, imperial lore, imperial, imperial worth it, skyrim worth it, is it worth it, cyrodiil, empire

Id: 3VTQe3BXjeo

Length: 14min 28sec (868 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 04 2019