Lore friendly approach to player characters and creatures?

[Daguy]

More aptly, what creatures in TES might actually mate (willing or not, whether they can produce a viable offspring or not) with a player character going by the lore of the setting? I'm interested for a long-term and deep roleplay I want to attempt, that touches on the darker and baser elements of the setting, without quite devolving into something tawdy for the sake of shock. Basically, it might be funny for a mudcrab to become amorous, but it ruins the atmosphere of a roleplay.

 

Now, we know Daedra accross the spectrum have interest, in mortals and eachother. The Princes, some of them, at least can be interested in a mortal, even if it's just part of their sphere (Molag), for the sake of aggression (Mehrunes, in Battlespire), and we know some are 'beyond' that, such as Merida. The servants seem as broad and varied as mortals; Seducers in Battlespire seem to have sex, feed off of, and capture the player, the Dremora in Morrowind that threatens to rape the players corpse, and so on. But how bestial do they have to get before it's not part of their nature? do the crocodile-like Daedrorth appreciate the bodies of women, aside from how they taste and crunch?

 

Getting down to the more mundane, in our own mythology, the various creatures are supposed to have been very interested in women. Minotaurs, Ogres, Centaurs, ect. Nymphs. But, in TES, creatures like Trolls are more bestial than other settings, so would they prefer to eat a mortal than mate with them? As nicely shaped as they are, I think we can assume Dryads have no interest in the flesh. Are Falmer, Goblins, and Rieklings close enough to man and mer to find them attractive? Do Giants think of pretty Nord adventurers they have chased away from their mamoths on a night?

 

Perhaps more important than any of this, what sort of situation would any of this matter? In what contexts would any of this play into a roleplay? If you find youself captive by a Daedra of Molag Bals sphere, I think the end result is rather clear. But typical Dremora seem to hate mortals, so it seems unlikely a player character would find themselves in a situation where anything sexual was on the table. Doubly so when you consider the bestial nature of beings like Daedroth. 

 

I suspect your average mortal would have more chance of an unfortunate run in wth a Minotaur or Ogre while bathing or relieving yourself than the typical 'submission of defeat' our mods often offer, though I suppose that's in the cards too. I think there is even mention of an Ogre being in a family line in Oblivion, and it's never been clear if Alessia's 'half-bull' husband had any Minotaur traits. But going by our own mythology, the typical ladies of Cyrodiil might have the most to fear of any province.

 

Falmer at least seem to keep it in their society, unless I missed some subtext, and humans and other mer are more likely to end up dinner.

 

[Allannaa]

Interesting idea, and interesting takes on the various personalities of living things in Skyrim.

 

Here's how I see things. 

 

As for animals, even trolls, you may be ascribing more sentience than is actually there.  "Attractive" doesn't come into it for animals, at least not the way it does for humans, in the real world.

 

To a human, things like intelligence, eye colour, accent, height, body shape -- all those things attract us to one another.  Animals don't work even remotely like that, with the exception of fur or hide colour (which I'll get to in a minute.)  Animals are attracted to one another based on hormones and the instinct to procreate.  A male dog, from a chihuahua to a malamute, from an arctic wolf to a jackal, is attracted by the scent of the female canine's estrus.  A stallion is attracted by the scent of the mare's estrus.  Even elephants, which are actually quite close to humans in behaviour, and the great apes which are our closest living cousins, are attracted FIRST by the scent of estrus.

 

Secondarily, though, various animals may be LESS attracted to an animal of the "wrong" colour.  Let's take that arctic wolf.  It's grey in summer and white in winter, for a very good reason -- hunting camoflage.  A grey wolf doesn't show up strongly against tundra; when it turns white, it doesn't show up strongly against snow.  Therefore, a grey bitch will be more appealing to a grey or white dog-wolf, and of course, the grey dog-wolf will be more appealing to the white bitch.  They can't put it into words the way we can, but they "know" that a brown or black -- or even very dark grey -- wolf, isn't a good choice for the pack.  In fact, wolves (and obviously other animals) will reject an offspring of the wrong colour when it's born.  Cruel?  Not really.  Better to die a quick death as a cub or pup, than a horrible lingering death of starvation because it was driven out of the pack whose hunting it would have disrupted.

 

Remember also, animals don't actually engage in sex just for fun, for the most part.  That behaviour is limited to primates (apes, humans, chimps), elephants, and cetaceans (dolphins, orca, whales).  When animals copulate, it's for propagation, not pure pleasure.  That isn't to say they don't enjoy it; they do.  But enjoyment isn't the primary reason, the way it is with humans.  But basically, if they smell sex scents, they try to engage in intercourse.

 

Reiklings?  Please.  They remind me of Smeagol (Gollum).  They like shiny stuff!  But they are also sentient, as you discover when you find Thirsk Meadhall.  So, logically, they'd be a little more interested in someone who has a lot of shiny sparkly pretty things on their clothes -- or who had shiny sparkly pretty things to share.  Other things could go one of two ways -- are you small and slim-limbed?  That might appeal to a reikling, male or female, because it's similar to their own morphology, and they'd be pre-disposed to appreciate that.  But on the other hand, maybe the idea of a tall, plump woman turns a male reikling on, because she's so different from the girls back at the cave.  Or maybe a big muscular brute of a man turns a female reikling on, because he's so different from the guys in the meadhall.

 

Falmer are another thing entirely.  They used to be tall, proud, beautiful snow elves, who found themselves in an impossible position, which drove them to ask the dwemer for help.  The dwemer agreed, based on certain conditions -- including horrific medical experimentation coupled with slavery.  Trouble is, the dwemer neglected to mention the medical experimentation, and lied about the slavery.  By the time the snow elves realized they'd been screwed over, poisoned, and imprisoned, it was too late to do anything about it.  Bits and pieces of lore you pick up around the various ES games explain how the dwemer systematically poisoned the snow elves -- blinding them, twisting their bodies, and, although it isn't stated in so many words, tinkering around with their DNA.  Falmer didn't spring up overnight.  They're the result of centuries of torture.  Hatred has become ingrained in them; maybe even become part of their genetics.

 

(Sorry to be the one to tell you this, Gelebor... But then again, you're kind of a sorry creature yourself.  Guarding a wayshrine is more pleasing to your disgusting god than saving lives and defending priests who don't know how to fight?  And about that brother of yours -- what kind of god abandons a worshipper, and at that, a high cleric like a curate who obviously rose to his position through his devotion, just because he gets sick?  Instead of HELPING that curate, you turned your back on him; instead of rewarding him for his steadfast devotion, you pissed on him.  It wasn't as if he ordered his initiate to infect him, after all.  Wow, Auri-el.  There are no words nasty enough to describe you.)

 

Ahem, rant over, back to the subject at hand.

 

Falmer would probably not be attracted one way or the other toward normal mer.  But since they are so hatefilled and resentful, I'd be willing to bet that rape would appeal to them.  It's a great way to display power (remember, rape isn't about sex, it's about power and control).  It's a great way to express resentment that other races haven't been tortured and corrupted the way theirs was.  It's a great way to take revenge on every other race.  And I suspect that, much as they must loathe the dwemer or any reminder of them -- well, something of dwemer society became infused into the falmer.  Otherwise, why do they stay in dwemer ruins?  It could be revenge; they killed their dwarven masters (although the falmer are *not* why there are no dwemer left now).  It could be simply that they've nowhere else to go.  But it could also be that over time, they identified with certain aspects of dwemer culture -- and if they did, then their shamans might just be a little curious about what kind of torture, including sexual torture, could be carried out on an unsuspecting adventurer.  Maybe a falmer would think it worthwhile to collect semen from a man, to use to impregnate the women of her tribe, in hopes to reverse some of the horrible characteristics the dwemer induced in them.  Maybe a falmer would think it was a good idea to imprison a woman to use as a broodmare, and force her to bear child after child, and even be bred by her own offspring, again in the hope of reducing the changes the dwemer caused in them.  I'd be careful wandering near any falmer enclaves, therefore.

 

So.  Who or what, other than a reikling or falmer, would mate with an ordinary nord or orc or elf or whatever?

 

A bitch wolf might not object to a male mer, if she was in season, and there weren't any likely dog-wolves around.  Unlike domestic dogs, wolves and jackals will try to avoid mating with their own offspring, so if her pack is composed entirely of her own litter, they're not "likely" prospects for her.  A dog-wolf on the other hand, would smell the sex-scent on a female mer, and be pretty interested.  If he could "mate" with her, he'd try to do it.  The same would hold true for a bear or sabrecat.  So if you're going to be running around Skyrim, I'd recommend you keep some lavendar on you.  Its strong scent will mask other odors, and make it less likely that you'll catch the attention of various aroused animals.

 

A mammoth *might* be interested, but the size difference would preclude engagement.  Mammoths aren't stupid.  They know a mer's penis isn't going to do anything for them; they know a mer's vagina isn't going to accept a mammoth penis.  That would *not* stop them from being curious, and using their trunk to explore the mer.  Which could get extremely interesting, whether there was a penis to investigate, or a vagina.  They'd be more interested in nearby giants, who'd kind of have the same problem.  I mean size difference, for real.  How's a female giant going to *notice* even the most well-endowed mer?  And a male giant isn't going to bother trying ... okay yeah, anyway.

 

Trolls are barely sentient.  They use tools, apparently; we see (screen shots and load screens of) them using sharpened bones, for instance, to clean their teeth.  But I suspect they're animal enough that it would be "sex scent" that grabs their attention, and not physical appearance.  Therefore, to a horny troll, a well-equipped male nord might be a nice prospect to ease her reproductive urge, while a male troll with no access to in-heat females would see a female high elf as a great way to relieve his needs, especially if she smells like menstrual blood, or even better, like sexual body juices.  (I have no idea how else to express that concept.  Girl goo? lol)  It's also not beyond the bounds of possibility that a troll might use a tool on a sexual partner.  Instead of a sharpened bone, for instance, a troll might use a rounded smooth bone -- on the partner, or on himself or herself.  So, if you come across a cave that kind of stinks, but you don't see any signs of bears or wolves, you might be wise to pass on by -- or risk being taken advantage of by a troll.

 

Daedra and Aedra both would seem to have some of the same characteristics that mer do.  (Other than Merida, who thinks she's some virgin asexual queen of purity or something.)  I'd be willing to bet Clavicus would have fun with mer boys and girls; we know Molag Bal likes female mer (I wonder how *male* pure vampires are created? Hm.)  HermaMora would probably love to stick those eyeball tentacles into places they shouldn't go, just to find out what's in there.  We all know Sanguine is into a variety of fun stuff, and Uncle Sheo is.... okay let's not go there after all.  As for their dremora servants?  Dremora may hate mer, but that doesn't preclude forced sex, because one of the characteristics of rape is that it isn't *about* sex.  It's about force, and power play.  After a long day's work of tormenting people for your prince's delights, your average dremora is going to want to torment someone for his own fun.  And that someone might just be you.

 

Although they're not creatures, I can see the jarls becoming involved with the player, too.

 

I can see Baalgruf wanting a woman; after all, he's worn out one, and had a consort-mistress, too.  Ulfric is probably too busy trying to keep his shit together, but his sidekick would be into mead, maidens, and mayhem.  Tullius would probably no more screw a Nord than he'd turn into a mudcrab, but he might spend a bit of time with some cute Imperial lady.  Elisif is too young for any of that; she's almost jail-bait, and anyway, she's just way too innocent for dalliance.  And speaking of age differences, anyone had a good look at the Jarl of Morthal's husband?  That guy can't possibly be the father of Igrod's daughter, though he could be the father of her son.  Winterhold's Jarl has a wife, much good may she do him, and the kid at Falkreath is convinced he's Nirn's gift to Tamriel in every respect, so he'd go for sex, either gender, so long as the other person remembered that he was the special sweetheart of Falkreath.  Laila might sleep with an adventurer under the right circmstances, but don't kid yourself -- her first concern is Laila.  It's not actually Riften, let alone any other person.  Maven would only fuck you if there was profit in it for her.  Old Skald... well... he might enjoy looking at a handsome young man or a pretty young girl, but let's face it.  All the viagra in Skyrim... okay that's another place I don't want to go. lol  As for Markarth's leader... He's in love with the dwemer.  And probably that female Thalmor bitch who runs around his tumbled stone city.  Besides, people in Markarth give a whole different meaning to "eat you."

 

Basically, if it has genitals, it's going to be interested in sex, under certain conditions.  The less sentient it is, the more likely the interest will be scent and instinct driven.  The more sentient it is, then the more likely the interest will be emotion driven -- revenge, cruelty, love, curiousity, and pleasure.

 

And now I think I need coffee.  But I hope this gave you food for thought.

 

 

[MadMansGun]

the Falmer are blind snow elves, so if one was raised by "surface dwellers" i think it could be possible for it to form a relationship with someone.

but apart from that "The Falmer are twisted, evil creatures that dwell in Skyrim's deepest reaches. They have but one desire - to destroy the surface world, and any who dwell above."

 

as for the Rieklings, it's hard to say...maybe?

 

paarthurnax has mortal friends, so i would say relationships with dragons is definitely possible.