Board Thread:Skyrim/@comment-12760152-20130723093333/@comment-3079182-20141230144432

I love how everyone claims that the Stormcloak army would just get wiped out instantaneously by the AD when the fact of the matter is that the only reason they did such a number on the Empire in the Great War was because they had the element of surprise. They did a blitzkrieg and grabbed the capital. The only reason Mede surrendered was because he was unaware of how badly he damaged the Aldmeri army in the Battle of the Red Ring.

I have a really hard time believing that the Stormcloaks would fail, simply because populations in these games are not to scale. Just because we see a few ragtag groups of soldiers does not mean that that's the only force that will exist if the two nations were to go to war.

If the Empire does intend on going to war with the AD in the future, then they could still use the Stormcloak army as a distraction at the very least. Tensions or not, common enemies do exist. [i]"Politics make strange bedfellows."[/i]

Even if Skyrim would not cede back into the Empire, that does not necessarily mean that tensions would completely prohibit the two from cooperating towards a mutual goal. Many incidences like this have occurred in the past: The Daggerfall Covenant merged three factions that normally would never want to even co-exist with one-another. And similarly, Morrowind managed to play nice with FUCKING BLACK MARSH for awhile so that they could solve an issue.

To avoid being COMPLETELY off-topic, there is nothing I can't say here that hasn't already been said: the head of the Battle-Borns openly uses the stereotypical overpriveledged brat argument, "You're just jealous of what I have!" *blows raspberry* the man who is a soldier is just too blindly loyal to help one of his closest childhood friends, even allowing petty politics to tempt him to murder another in cold blood if he has the chance to.

The Grey-Manes are full of beaten-down old horses. The eldest supports them barely by making jewelry, even in his old age and proud status as the top blacksmith in the land, which in and of itself is admirable, without even having to factor in the fact that he and the clan's leader work with the most famous warrior guild in the nation.

In short: The Gray-Manes are in the right; I side with them because they are persecuted for what they believe in, which, oddly enough, is the disapproval of sacrificing your culture - I.E. what you believe in - for personal gain.