A fitting end to an enjoyable arc! In the end, Nora caused her own undoing. I liked that. It's refreshing to see her past self as a less powerful, more naive character. That's what makes her present prime believable.

I found it ironic how they were calling out "murderer!" while surrounded by dangling corpses. And goodness, Eric! I forgot about him. I think his addition was excellent. The murder of Ahtar's family showcased Nora's deplorable and selfish nature for sure. But seeing Eric again and how comfortable their relationship was together only reminded me of the fate she ultimately delivered to him for her own selfish intentions. If this arc did anything for me, it's reminded me that Nora is no hero.

Only critique/question I have is what the heck happened to Shila at the end there? I get she's dead, but... how? It felt like there was a missing image, idk.

What an Epic conclusion! Pain and Drama and pain and pain and sadness and MADNESS! Great Work!  ? 

1 hour ago, Collygon said:

A fitting end to an enjoyable arc! In the end, Nora caused her own undoing. I liked that. It's refreshing to see her past self as a less powerful, more naive character. That's what makes her present prime believable.

Thank you! In a way both she and Ahtar's father that acted as the antagonist got what they wanted, (except he's dead, but he got everything else).

Even though I mostly do what I feel like doing with these flashback I always try to capture some of the more memorable moments of her past that had a big influence on her future development.

Red haired Nora is now mostly trusting on herself, (trusting Ahtar and loosing Ahtar's relationship was her actual problem here) and second be less reckless (she really was 'all in' on her plan to work and she can be lucky to make it out alive). 

When she killed Eric she did so because it was supported by the Queen, even though she did it to advance her own career/interests. 

1 hour ago, Collygon said:

I found it ironic how they were calling out "murderer!" while surrounded by dangling corpses. And goodness, Eric! I forgot about him. I think his addition was excellent. The murder of Ahtar's family showcased Nora's deplorable and selfish nature for sure. But seeing Eric again and how comfortable their relationship was together only reminded me of the fate she ultimately delivered to him for her own selfish intentions. If this arc did anything for me, it's reminded me that Nora is no hero.

Thanks, glad you liked it.

1 hour ago, Collygon said:

Only critique/question I have is what the heck happened to Shila at the end there? I get she's dead, but... how? It felt like there was a missing image, idk.

Yeah I was a bit lazy at screenshoting there. There probably should have been another image with Nora actually killing her. As you know those tend to be more work intensive, with the blood and the poses etc.  

1 hour ago, Jayomms said:

What an Epic conclusion! Pain and Drama and pain and pain and sadness and MADNESS! Great Work!  ? 

  Reveal hidden contents

Sheogorath: JUST PURE MADNESS!!! AND THE CHEESE!!! To die for...

 

 Thank you!

Great story telling. Having Nora return to Eric was really good choice, sort of an Odyssey thing. There were the blood swords (can't remember the name) which Eric possessed, Nora went to Morrowind to learn how to control her vampiric tendancies and the blade. There she met Ahtar, grew stronger and eventually joined the higher echelons of power in vampire society. Then it all came tumbling down. Great way to wrap the Hammerfell arc.

Your blog and others here really inspires me

Hello ! I'm just discovering your stories, I didn't know you have been so productive, along with all your good mods (especially the Karlov Manor, I'm planning to make few scenes inside it but can't choose which room cause they are all great ?)

I always wanted to make stories in a dark world with vampires and other creatures and I think my stories would look like yours if I had motivation, that's a really good job !

Now I have to read all your chapters, from the very first one. That will take some time !

Feel a bit bad for Nora, but we've chatted about my sentiment towards her moral standing, so I think you'd know how I ultimately feel!
I'm only a lil' bit upset because Nora & Ahtar seemed quite sweet together. Have been wondering what happens (happened) to Ahtar considering the circumstances on the present-day story, I guess this is a "brighter" outcome than the possible alternatives.

Really love this Hammerfell storyline, it's my favourite so far

An wonderful ending, I would even say it's the perfect ending (don't be mad with me about this @Rattlesnark =O)

Not every plan works out, it is "good" to see a protagonist fail and bears the consequences. I wouldn't have expect less from you @Alter Native.

10 out of 10, again ?

Sidenote: These shots might not be your own fav shots, but I loved them: ambience & transformation

Wow, a delightful ending to a delightful arch. Quite an authentic and logical I must say. 
And Eric's appearance is a great touch. In general, everything in this chapter reminds us how Insidious and unrestrained' in her methods Nora can be - "Whatever it takes" and "Nо price is too high".
Great entry, Alter Native, as always! 

Great conclusion indeed. Just like Collygon, I appreciated the unexpected backfiring (though the Duchess' reaction to Nora going beyond her orders was to be foreseen). That's also a rare sample of Nora reacting to defeat, and connects beautifully her ascension and disgrace in Sentinel to her comeback in Skyrim. Also, I didn't notice any misspelling this time. Technically the execution is as good as usual, though you visibly lacked a bit of kneeling poses, and IMO added a bit too much screens in trying to magnify Ahtar's nomination as count. That's quite minor though. Excellent work about the whole arc, technically, but also scenario-wise.

Malicia : « I was gonna say that she should've listened my expert advices about not killing people, uh. 

                But since she broke-up with the guy she wanted to honey-honey with, and got banned, she got already punished.

                So I won't say it, no.  »

On 12/2/2020 at 12:54 AM, Alter Native said:

Yeah I was a bit lazy at screenshoting there. There probably should have been another image with Nora actually killing her. As you know those tend to be more work intensive, with the blood and the poses etc.  

I would cut that scene then, because the missing explanation for her death adds confusion while the undoing and suffering of Nora already had been shown. The missing part was an important one !

On 12/2/2020 at 8:54 AM, Skyrimshaw said:

Great story telling. Having Nora return to Eric was really good choice, sort of an Odyssey thing. There were the blood swords (can't remember the name) which Eric possessed, Nora went to Morrowind to learn how to control her vampiric tendancies and the blade. There she met Ahtar, grew stronger and eventually joined the higher echelons of power in vampire society. Then it all came tumbling down. Great way to wrap the Hammerfell arc.

Thank you very much for that nice comment, but between her leaving Eric and her meeting Ahtar are about 200 years. It's not a full Odyssey in that way.

But you are right, Eric is like a center of peace for her. It's no surprise she goes there after losing everything.

On 12/2/2020 at 8:54 AM, Skyrimshaw said:

Your blog and others here really inspires me

Thank you very much! Glad you like it.

On 12/2/2020 at 12:28 PM, Aphazel said:

Hello ! I'm just discovering your stories, I didn't know you have been so productive, along with all your good mods (especially the Karlov Manor, I'm planning to make few scenes inside it but can't choose which room cause they are all great ?)

Basically Karlov Manor only exists because of this story. This is the place she got in chapter 5 and since there was no place I liked for her I built my own. 

On 12/2/2020 at 12:28 PM, Aphazel said:

I always wanted to make stories in a dark world with vampires and other creatures and I think my stories would look like yours if I had motivation, that's a really good job !

Now I have to read all your chapters, from the very first one. That will take some time !

Give your own story a try, it's great fun and there are many people around that can help you. Also have a look at the storytellers club here.

On 12/2/2020 at 2:04 PM, Rattlesnark said:

Feel a bit bad for Nora, but we've chatted about my sentiment towards her moral standing, so I think you'd know how I ultimately feel!
I'm only a lil' bit upset because Nora & Ahtar seemed quite sweet together. Have been wondering what happens (happened) to Ahtar considering the circumstances on the present-day story, I guess this is a "brighter" outcome than the possible alternatives.

We've met him in chapter 4 he is now the count of Sentinel, basically replacing his father. He's also married to the redguard girl we saw in the last entries. 

And we may, see both of them again in chapter 11.

On 12/2/2020 at 2:04 PM, Rattlesnark said:

Really love this Hammerfell storyline, it's my favourite so far

Thank you very much! More cool stuff to come in chapter 10 

17 hours ago, Kin Tsuchi said:

An wonderful ending, I would even say it's the perfect ending (don't be mad with me about this @Rattlesnark =O)

Not every plan works out, it is "good" to see a protagonist fail and bears the consequences. I wouldn't have expect less from you @Alter Native.

10 out of 10, again ?

Thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed it.

Doing Hammerfell was great fun!

17 hours ago, Kin Tsuchi said:

Sidenote: These shots might not be your own fav shots, but I loved them: ambience & transformation

Thanks, I also really like the ambience screenshot, it's the banner of my Karlov Manor mod  .

14 hours ago, Crw said:

Wow, a delightful ending to a delightful arch. Quite an authentic and logical I must say. 
And Eric's appearance is a great touch. In general, everything in this chapter reminds us how Insidious and unrestrained' in her methods Nora can be - "Whatever it takes" and "Nо price is too high".
Great entry, Alter Native, as always! 

Thank you!

Except she miscalculated the actual costs and gambled too much, wanting too much to quickly.

2 hours ago, Tirloque said:

Great conclusion indeed. Just like Collygon, I appreciated the unexpected backfiring (though the Duchess' reaction to Nora going beyond her orders was to be foreseen).

I'm not sure if I presented the situation ideally, but the idea was that the Sehat's (the rich merchant couple Nora met in chapter 8 section 8) and ally of the murdered count force the Duchess to drop her. Even though the couple doesn't hold any official positions of power, they have a huge influence on the traditional hammerfell vampire societies, (via money, favors and information).

They have an idea of what happened during the murder but they can't punish the Duchess directly as they just lost their most important ally. However they still apply enough pressure that the Duchess has to let go of Nora. Nora is basically the pawn sacrifice of the Durchess.

2 hours ago, Tirloque said:

That's also a rare sample of Nora reacting to defeat, and connects beautifully her ascension and disgrace in Sentinel to her comeback in Skyrim. Also, I didn't notice any misspelling this time. Technically the execution is as good as usual, though you visibly lacked a bit of kneeling poses, and IMO added a bit too much screens in trying to magnify Ahtar's nomination as count.

That scene was hell to pose and in my opinion the amount of people kneeling there is just right. 

The only people that are not kneeling have good reasons not to, such as being of a higher political rank.

Everyone standing stood for a reason, not lazyness  .

2 hours ago, Tirloque said:

That's quite minor though. Excellent work about the whole arc, technically, but also scenario-wise.

Thanks!

2 hours ago, Tirloque said:

I would cut that scene then, because the missing explanation for her death adds confusion while the undoing and suffering of Nora already had been shown. The missing part was an important one !

But Nora really likes Shila and she is way more than redguard Amelie. Technically there is nothing stopping her from staying in Hammerfell, I'm sure she has made plenty of friends there over the years.

Nice!

I love how you started the comic off in the present where the events had already happened. It very much had a series ending finale that after reading the last page, I was thinking if this was the final story of Nora.  Then after reading your comments afterwards, there’s more!

 It Yeager I love that whole framing device you used for this chapter, the distinct color tone differences between the two time periods, and story wise the theme of ambition and  her downfall.

Yeesh poor Nora can't catch a break... although I do agree that the count was an arsehole and got what he deserved!

On 12/5/2020 at 5:16 PM, devious-Drunna said:

Nice!

I love how you started the comic off in the present where the events had already happened. It very much had a series ending finale that after reading the last page, I was thinking if this was the final story of Nora.  Then after reading your comments afterwards, there’s more!

Thank you!

Technically it's a flashback in a flashback, but I get what you mean.

On 12/5/2020 at 5:16 PM, devious-Drunna said:

 It Yeager I love that whole framing device you used for this chapter, the distinct color tone differences between the two time periods, and story wise the theme of ambition and  her downfall.

Thank you, back then I was creating custom image spaces in the CK for the different scenes, glad you noticed.

23 hours ago, xGHoSTx said:

Yeesh poor Nora can't catch a break... although I do agree that the count was an arsehole and got what he deserved!

Thanks! She kind of had it coming though... she kind of got what she deserved.