#almalexia

[garzzum]

Sketches. One is technically a redraw but I don't feel like finishing it. 😫

[halo-1267]

I love u tragic queen characters who are hated bc of misogyny

[romanoffblitzer]

Sometimes I do an exercise where I take a fictional character and think of what element their Vision (from Genshin Impact) would be if they overcame their primary flaw.

Almalexia's deal is that she really wants to delude herself into believing that she is a perfect and benevolent goddess. She did a lot of genuinely good work while ruling Morrowind, but her benevolent actions were subconsciously less out of true selflessness and more to feed her ego, whether she realized that or not. She could not stand the fact that she betrayed and probably murdered her own husband Nerevar to become a goddess, and uses lies about her past to go into denial. Once she was faced with losing her power and her self-identity as a goddess in Tribunal, she went mad.

Obviously, in canon, she failed to overcome her own flaws and went nuts. But if she somehow did have the strength of character to do so, it might have taken one of these paths:

Electro: "I can prove I am worthy of the title of Mother Morrowind as a weak, flawed mortal instead of an immortal, infallible goddess" (Electro being the element of self-improvement, becoming someone completely different and better, and how transience becomes eternity)

Cryo: "I can accept that I am the person who betrayed and murdered my husband, and instead of letting that revelation break me, I will let go of my self-conception of being Mother Morrowind and resolve to do better in the future" (Cryo being element of compassion, used here as self-forgiveness and self-acceptance)

Hydro: "I don't know who I am without my godhood, but I have to stop deceiving myself and the people of Morrowind and fix my mistakes" (Hydro being element of truth, justice, and restoring things to their rightful state)

A lot of people understandably think that Vision elements are arbitrary, but I've found that this post has a compelling take on how people get Visions, with this comment being about which element you get.

[mazurah]

...so I was browsing Morrowind mods, and I found this mod called Almalexia Kills You, which spawns Almalexia in Seyda Neen when you finish character creation, and...

I'm crying...

[garzzum]

Another redraw

(original, also below)

v close ups cuz the quality is really bad lol

[halo-1267]

Ayem I may or may not ever finish

[halo-1267]

almalexia and her harem of high ordinators

[razaks-wheel]

The plague has been dealt with, Magistrix Vox is dead, and Vellaise finally feels reality begin to creep in. It is strange, being once-dead. Her home is gone, along with her job. Until now, she has simply been going where she's sent, doing what is asked of her. Once she leaves this ruin, where will she go? There's always the Harborage, she supposes with a grimace, but maybe she can find more work before it comes to that.

She doesn't realize she's just standing in the middle of the ruin until Almalexia speaks.

"Let us talk, Vellaise," she says. "Not here. Meet me in my cloister."

She opens a portal and gestures her through.

---

"Why do you fight for the Ebonheart Pact?" Almalexia asks once they are alone in the temple.

That's the real question, isn't it? Vellaise considers it now that it has been put into words. Why does she fight for the Pact? Really, it just happened. She wasn't exactly in her right mind when she landed in Bleakrock, and so she just went with the flow, and then one thing led to another and she never really stopped. But she can't tell Almalexia that. She's already an oddity, being an Imperial in Pact territory. She'd look like a spy, or at best a weak link.

"Speak plainly, my child," the goddess says, as if reading her mind. "You will not offend."

A part of her doubts that, but she takes a breath to steady herself and responds anyway, saying, "I suppose it began as repayment for rescuing me. After that, I never put much thought into it."

"Any debt you owed has long been repaid; you are released from any obligation to the Ebonheart Pact. Your fate lies elsewhere—indeed, it was my companions and I who nudged you in this direction on your return to Nirn." She pauses and tilts her head. "You resent this, even though you had no home to return to. Why?"

Vellaise balks. It's true that she felt a brief pang of resentment, but she doesn't think she showed it on her face. She hardly had time to notice it before the goddess commented on it.

"Still you hesitate," Almalexia chides her. "That which is in your heart, Vellaise, is already known to me; you cannot conceal it, and so you need not fear it being revealed. What I would hear is your account."

Her stomach lurches in spite of the reassurance. She hopes this goddess of mercy is true to her word and her domain; she would hate to say something untoward and end up a pile of ashes...

"I...was separated from my friend," she says at last. It sounds so small, in the face of a god, but Elanniren woke her up from the endless nightmare that was Coldharbour, and was immediately torn from her upon their escape. "I just worry for her."

"You were alone for a very long time," Almalexia fills in, as if she sees it in front of her. "It is only natural that you would care for the first kind face you saw in that horrible place. As it happens, your friend is a beacon in the eyes of a god. I would grant you this boon of knowledge: Elanniren has become quite an asset to her alliance—but I will not hold that against her—yet she struggles with her path. Though you have not had time to consider it, you will agree that your skills as a mage would be put to better use working with your Prophet to support Elanniren. You have our blessing to do just that."

When she puts it that way, it's as if a screen has lifted off the feeling. Almalexia is right; that should be her role. She has neither love nor distaste for the Pact per se, but her heart is in the Planemeld crisis. There, she can help. She can make a real difference. And she can see Elanniren. If anything, Vellaise owes her a debt, too, for if Elanniren hadn't passed through her cell, she would probably still be in Coldharbour. Her heart swells with a renewed resolve.

"Thank you, Lady Almalexia."

"It is only what is due, and I have yet more to ask of you. The reason we brought you here is that you, too, shine with prophecy, but yours leads you to the aid of the Tribunal. I agreed to put you to the test—and I am pleased to say that you have performed admirably in our eyes. When the time comes, we will call on you. Do you accept this strand of destiny, Vellaise Silinus?"

A prophecy of her own? The idea excites her so much that she's inclined to call it a boon in itself, regardless of what it might entail. The Prophet has mentioned that she would have some role to play in certain events, but she didn't realize it would be so concrete.

"I do," she says. She wants to ask for more detail, see if there are any texts she can study to prepare herself, but she should probably be careful. The Planemeld will be her focus for now, and if Almalexia says they will call on her when it's time, then she will wait.

"Excellent. Now, since you'll be settling down for some time, if you'd like to stay somewhere other than daedric ruins and inn rooms, speak with Registrar Riivel. There is a certain wizard living not far from my city with a warrant out for his execution. Doubt not his strength—he has given our Ordinators trouble. I have left a Divine Writ of Execution with Riivel. If you fulfill it, you may keep the house as payment."

Vellaise pauses. Just like that? In Cyrodiil, there would be endless paperwork, not to mention cost.

Almalexia seems to notice her confusion and chuckles. "There is no catch, my child; this is simply our custom. Welcome to Morrowind."