Of Empires and Dragons

A collection of records and tales from the Cyrodiilic Empire in the 2nd Era. A new record filed daily around 6pm (AEDT).

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Index

For those of you who exclusively use Tumblr on the portable pocket computer, I've included a lite version of the 'Index' as a pinned post for this blog.

I've also enabled Asks. Any questions I receive and answer on this blog will be in an in-lore format (example). You don't have to ask your question in-lore if you don't want to.

Submissions are currently open! If you feel inspired by the style of posts on this blog and want to submit something of your own, please feel free to do so!

That also being said, if there are any tags that look incorrect or odd to you, please send an ask for those and I'll have a look!

Era

#2nd Era

#3rd Era

#4th Era

Type

#submissions

#asks

#excerpts

#conversations

#quotes

#letters

#essays

#descriptions

#references

#screenshots

#artworks

Concept

#art

#maritime

#military

#religion

#culture

#history

#education

#sport

#food

#drink

#music

#craftmanship

#crafting

#mercantile

#magic

#oblivion

#daedra

#worldbuilding

Characters

#bloodies-his-face

#stops-his-heart

#bites-with-bones

#leaps-with-lilypads / #lilaan

#hazeel-zkah

#hazeel-mora

#alesander avexus

#lysander avexus

#oberyn tharn

#ariella tacitus

#rufus viteleus

#cyrus viteleus

#leaps-with-lilypads

#lyrius gallus

#pactolus gallus

#morilye

#morilia

#eiki

Region

#Cyrodiil

#Morrowind

#Elsweyr

#Hammerfell

#High Rock

#Skyrim

#Summerset Isle

#Black Marsh

#Valenwood

#Topal Sea

#Abecean Sea

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'Lord Bal uses all.'

-- Anchorite Meliora, offering supplication to the name of Molag Bal

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'Imperial bureaucracy. Typical.'

-- Morgen Gray-Mane, when the concept of Imperial City clerks is explained to him

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'You mean to tell me there are a class of people in the Imperial City who get paid to push paper around?'

-- Gertrul gro-Malarak, utterly disgusted with the concept of clerks or 'paper pushers' as she's been informed.

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'Dear Gramis is just jealous because his meager rice paddy holdings yield scraps by comparison to the bounties of House Viteleus. Eastern Cyrodiil benefits from our grain alone.'

-- Cyrus Viteleus, hearing of Gramis Avexus' words besmirching his newest portrait.

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'Remembering His Face', acrylic on acrylic paper (2026)

Derivan Matisse Structure Acrylic Paint

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'There was a painter who used magic to peer into memories and created her works based on what she saw. I ran into her by chance in Wayrest when I was an adventurer. Normally she charged a pretty fee- more drakes than I had on me at the time- but she was grateful enough when I protected her from brigands. She offered me a painting, free of charge, so I didn't see the harm. When she was finished, she said I couldn't stop crying and hearing that made me cry a bit more. He'd always said I was a crybaby...'

-- Bloodies-His-Face, explaining the only painting of Fleet he had, painted by renowned artist Sarah Prilain from his memories.

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'Cyrus Viteleus' Golden Bounty', oil pastel on cardstock (2025)

Gallery by Mungyo oil pastels.

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'It's disgraceful, the way he acts as though he seeded and reaped the land himself when all he does is hold the title to it.'

-- Gramis Avexus, regarding the indulgent portrait of his rival councilor, Cyrus Viteleus.

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'Perfect. They say here every tattoo is special to the person who wears them, and you're no exception friend! I think you'll find this one suits you perfectly, almost like it shows you for who you really are!'

-- Sand-Grin, after marking his new friend, a young Imperial man, with a dainty symbol in an almost iridescent colour of sky blue with pink highlights. A month later, that same Imperial is seen scantily clad while dancing with the Dibellite dancers in the Great Chapel; his features softened and feminine.

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'Music, drinks, AND tattoos? This party is the best! And I know parties! Say, you look like someone who can handle a needle. Whaddya say we get you a drink and uncle Sand-Grin gives you the best tattoo ever?'

-- Sand-Grin, a dark-scaled Argonian with rose-red painted patterns on his scales, clearly a few drinks in while at the Revelry but something in his eyes suggests he's right about the tattoo...

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'The House of Dibella in Anvil doesn't support the Revelry at all. The Sybil names it a celebration of barbarity and the maiming of flesh, calling it 'the modern Ayleidism'. Anyone with obvious tattoos are not welcome in the Great Chapel as a result. Sometimes you can see people being thrown out by the Knights of the Lily.'

-- Avilonwe, making an observation of the House of Dibella and their views of the Revelry of Inks in Anvil

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'Not everyone who partakes in the tattoos at the Revelry are pirates. Some of the most unexpected people lay themselves on the tattoo cots to let the tattooists make their mark on them. Now, most anyone in Anvil has a tattoo or ten. Some are more well hidden, but many are laid bare for all to see, and in almost all cases they accentuate the exotic fashions you might see worn here.'

-- Avilonwe, further elaborating on the influence of the Revelry of Inks on Anvil's populace.

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'The overt influence the Red Sails have had over Anvil wasn't all bad. Even after they dispersed, the Revelry of Inks they started has actually become more popular over time and even gets sponsored by the Gold Coast Company. Each year on the first day of Sun's Dusk: tattooists, musicians, and performers gather in the Northgate plaza for a full two days and nights of revels with food, drink and- most importantly- the most intricate tattoos you might ever see being done on anyone wishing to brand themselves.'

-- Avilonwe, discussing Anvil's 'Revelry of Inks' that occurs annually in the port city.

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'Nobody really wants to admit it, but piracy has had such a profound influence on the city of Anvil. Even before being annexed by the Pirate-Queen, the city had a history of pirates stopping in port under the guise of regular seafarers or maritime merchants. But one could easily see through the ruse at night when they started drinking and telling tall tales of adventures on the high seas.'

-- Avilonwe, commenting on Anvil's love-hate relationship with pirates on the Abecean

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'Cafe is a Breton term for places that serve coffee and baked goods. Before that, there were khaves in Hammerfell where coffee was first brewed black. Then, wanting to outdo the Akaviri legacy of the tea houses built by the Potentate, the Imperials in Cyrodiil's West established coffee houses. But because "cafe" was easier to say, most of them call themselves cafes.'

-- Sera Maddex, an Imperial University scholar, explaining the brief history of establishments that serve coffee across Western Tamriel

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'When it rains in Bravil, it pours...'

-- Theo Malena, after running into a string of bad luck where a pickpocket snatched his coinpurse, which lead to him falling into the canal, and then losing his silver ring in the Bravil waters.

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'Colovian architects build from a position of uncompromising practicality and defensive potential that is in its own way majestic and awe-inspiring. Take for example the high vantage points of Castle Skingrad, or even the entire city of Kvatch on the Kvatch Plateau. Simply marvelous work.'

-- Alistair Trebatius, Seneschal

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'The Gladiator's Shield', acrylic on acrylic paper (2026)

Derivan Matisse Structure Acrylic Paint

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'This one is a much more modest painting by a Colovian artist from Sutch. Endurance is the virtue of Akatosh, that was one of the first lessons I ever learned about the Dragon-God. Every strained breath and every aching muscle reminds me that all I have to do to win a battle is outlast all others.'

-- Bloodies-His-Face, describing another portrait of himself by a different artist that depicts him with his shield up