Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-26213507-20150715194939/@comment-26896471-20150826165011

Blademaster Jauffre wrote: Bronkiin wrote: So how many other 'gateguards' are there in Skyrim? A gate guard is a city guard who stands by a gate. Don't be absurd by making a distinction. That distinction does not exist in game. Have you played Oblivion? A gate guard is the one who operates the gate, and guards it if neccesary. Oblivion isn't set in Skyrim. We're talking about Skyrim, the game and region. There are no seperate 'gate guards' in Skyrim, other than city guards who stand by a gate.

And in reponse to Ferris:

As Ottoman Hold has rightly said, you argue very well for the Empire in your last post, but I do have some observations. You say Ulfric should have taken the fight to the Thalmor instead of rebelling against the Empire directly, as Hammerfell did. I am sure I don't need to point out the impracticalies of simply 'continuing to fight the Dominion', bearing in mind Skyrim shares no border with it. Skyrim's contribution to the great war was predominantly sending men to the front, as opposed to Hammerfell, where much of the fighting actually took place, and half of which was ceded to the Dominion (prompting Hammerfells continuation of the war and sucession from the Empire), at the conflicts end.

I largely agree with you as to the impossibilty of the Empire's situation in regards to the White Gold Concordat. However, it was an Emperor based in Cyrodil who accepted a treaty with implications for a vast swathe of Tamriel, including Skyrim. Just because the Empire has to accept it, that doesn't mean that the provinces should. "The chests of gold" which "didn't hurt" were the closest Skyrim came to accepting the terms of the treaty, and hence much of Skyrim (as manifested in the Stormcloak rebellion) does not accept the legitimacy of the treaty, nor, by extension, the Empire. The Stormcloaks seeks Skyrim's own sovereignty as that, they believe, is the surest way of guaranteeing religious freedom within Skyrim. Ulfric's motives aside, that is the reason why the grass roots of the movement have joined the Stormcloaks. I think it is harsh (if not wrong) to assume that 'Ulfric's anti-Empire hate speeches' are what have caused disenchantment with the Empire

I agree to an extent that the Empire is not a full-on 'puppet' of the Dominion, but it must be noticed that the Thalmor have taken the administration of justice, at least in part, into their own hands, as seen by the Justicars in Markarth, and patrolling the roads of Skyrim. It was over control of their own justice system (seen by many as the last post of sovereignty) that saw Serbia reject the Dual Monarchy's ultimatum in 1914.

I haven't touched on everything here, but I'll spare you all the walls of text and wait for some responses!