Official Discussion Thread for "ESO Live: May 11 @ 4PM EDT – Summerset’s Story and Lore"

ZOS_GinaBruno

This is the official discussion thread for the blog article ESO Live: May 11 @ 4PM EDT – Summerset’s Story and Lore. Tune in for a lore chat with Lead Loremaster Lawrence Schick and Senior Writer Bill Slavicsek about the people, culture, and history of Summerset. You'll discover what to expect during your adventures in the homeland of the High Elves, and we'll provide live answers to your questions about Summerset's society and story (but no spoilers!). See you tomorrow!

Rohamad_Ali

Yay Lawrence ! Story Time !

ThinkerOfThings

For Lawrence,

I have been running, playing and creating RPG campaigns for 15+ years now. I love creating the political, sociological, and metaphysical dynamics for fantasy worlds and plan to continue doing as long as I can. It seems to me that getting paid for doing something you love is a worthwhile goal. So my question is, what steps did you take to move from just creating worlds to getting paid to create them?

VerboseQuips

I have a lot of questions, I hope some of them can be answered.

• The Psijic Order is said to follow a magical doctrine called The Old Ways. Can you tell us a bit about that? According to previous games, the Centaurs are described by the Psijic Order itself as "the true followers" of the Old Ways. Will we have an opportunity to see Centaurs in ESO some day?
• Apparently we'll see Welwas in the Summerset. According to the Lay of Firsthold said the Welwas were eradicated by the Altmer led by Torinaan, long ago. Yet, apparently, we'll see some Welwas in the Summerset Isle. This brings the question: may we hope to see some Ilyadis in ESO?
• And what about the Gheatus, which is said to be of nearly godlike power? Some rumors mention there used to be one under Wansalen (and maybe it is still there), but the Sapiarch denegate it. Are there links between the Gheatus and the Hollow Ones created by the Wilderking? And are there different types of Gheatus attuned to different types of rocks? Does there exist Crystalline Gheatus?
• Speaking about Bosmeri stuff... Is there a link between the Spinners of Valenwood and Mephala the Spinner?
• We haven't seen male Perthans since Battlespire. Will we get a chance to see some in the Spiral Skein?
• What's the dark red crystal we could see in the Spiral Skein?
• Are Albino Spiders linked to Mephala?
• We have had an opportunity to see Altars of Nocturnal in Evergloam. There was a golden bird and a black bird on these. Is there a link between the golden bird and the famed Sunbirds? What are the Sunbirds of Alinor?
• Sotha Sil and Lilatha called Nocturnal "Ur-Dra". What does it mean?
• Will we see corallian Sload ruins on the Summerset Isle? Maybe in the underbelly of Cloudrest? Any chance we'd see Sload airships some time in the future?
• Speaking about coral... Will we learn more about the link between Sotha Sil and the Dreughs? And about the links between the Dreughs and Molag Bal?
• Could you shed some light on the Coldharbour Compact?
• Did Ayrenn open the Isle to strangers because she somehow knew the Prisonner would have to be able to get there?
• Why did Ayrenn need the Staff of Magnus after she went into the Orrery?
• Will we learn more about Ayrenn's mysterious past?
• Any chance we'd have news of Nairume's quest to find her husband?
• Do you plan to do a sequel to Selene's web Dungeon?
• Will we ever know what's hidden under Skyhold?
• Fate is something that has been very looming around the entire Daedric War narratives, with prophecies from the Prophet, the Oracles of Azura, the Scryers of the Order of the Eye, the Grand Prognosticator and the Wyress Oracle. I don't want to spoil it since it's some of the best quests from both the Dark Brotherhood DLC and the Morrowind Chapter, but... will we hear again from the Fate Bearers? The Prince of Fate is Hermaeus Mora who may have been involved in the very foundation of the Morag Tong, as Mephala's sibling. Is he also involved in this new Chapter? And will our choices about Naryu and her daughter have consequences on what happen in Summerset?
• Will Summerset really conclude the narrative started with Orsinium? What happens next?

WhiteCoatSyndrome

--What's the difference between an ouster and an aprax?
--We've now met her brother and her cousin. How extensive is Queen Ayrenn's family?
--If Justiciars are part of Thalmor law enforcement, why are Sapiarchs wearing what looks suspiciously like Fourth Era Justiciar robes? They seem to be a different branch of Altmer society.
--What is the eye talisman on Psijic robes for?
--Per Clockwork City and lorebooks from previous games, we know Sotha Sil had ties to the Psijic Order. When and how did that happen?
--Is Investigator Vale a real person? (Please note: for the purpose of this question I'm counting someone operating under an assumed name and/or exaggerating their exploits.)
--We see a boardgame around Summerset; it has marbles on the board and looks a little like Chinese Checkers without as many sides. What is the game?
--How long do gryphons live? Do the Welkynar have to train new mounts every few decades?
--Most of Tamriel seems to avoid vampires and necromancy, but the Altmer take this to an extreme. Why?
--While we're on the subject, what vampire bloodlines are dominant in Summerset?
--How many kinhouses are there?
--What are all the Eleven Forces of the Psijic Order?

Minno

Any Summerset Hats for our Law-master General to wear?!

VerboseQuips

Some more questions, because, obviously, my previous list wasn't long enough...

• So, Welkynd means Sky Child and Varla means Star. But what do "Culanda" and "Malondo" mean? Will we see these stones being cultivated on the Summerset Isle, like Phrastus of Elinir pretends they are?
• Any chance we'd see a come back of the Loremaster's Archive some time?
• What's Slaughterstone, where does it come from? Has Dibellium anything to do with Dibella? Usually, wax is an organic material, so what is the gilding wax, and is it produced by some creature? Does Aurbic amber come from a tree?
• Can you tell us something about the new creatures we'll see in Summerset?

VerboseQuips

Sorry for the spamming, but I keep having ideas for new questions...

Are the Gryphons related to the Lion-ibis we see represented as statues in the Hew's Bane? And are these linked to Tava?

In the Hew's bane, we can see some huge statues of bird-like creatures. Near Abah's landing, we can also see marks on some rocks that really look like footprints of a gigantic creature with claws. Were this footprints created by some species of Gryphon? How large can Gryphons get?

tinythinker

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

This is the official discussion thread for the blog article ESO Live: May 11 @ 4PM EDT – Summerset’s Story and Lore. Tune in for a lore chat with Lead Loremaster Lawrence Schick and Senior Writer Bill Slavicsek about the people, culture, and history of Summerset. You'll discover what to expect during your adventures in the homeland of the High Elves, and we'll provide live answers to your questions about Summerset's society and story (but no spoilers!). See you tomorrow!

Thank you.

Question: Was the new character Babblebrook inspired by Charles Manson? Any chance he will become a recurring character?

Alternate Question: Which real world societies were most influential for the culture, architecture, or other features of Summerset?

Noooooooooo… talk about Babblebrook...

ThinkerOfThings

Asking for another player because I genuinely want to know:

myrakrista wrote: »

Dreugh waxes are bought and sold for thousands of gold in the market and people put them all over their armor. This got me wondering... What's dreugh wax made of? And which body part does it come from?

Alarra

Not really a Summerset-related question, but something I’ve been wondering:

We know that the Serpent constellation usurps some months, but how does this work - is it the entire month, or just a few days? There’s also a Fatal Fredas, the 13th of the month, being referred to in a Crown Store Showcase (https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/26205) as "Serpent 13" ("This Frostfall, a rare celestial alignment will occur on Serpent 13"). Is it correct to call the usurped month/days "Serpent" instead of the actual month name?

Stickbow

So - this is sour grapes, since I was the first to post "Summerset is going to be awesome" on YouTube (and can't watch on Twitch from work).

You should tell the people watching on YouTube that the giveaway is only for Twitch followers.

Jim_Pipp

I didn't realise how great these guests would be (I was grumpy about the crown sale and I realise I missed an incredible opportunity to ask longtime questions!). Please bring them back again! It was so nice to here Lawrence's voice and everyones knowledge about the world (rather than just gameplay).

Thank you for addressing the long running discussion about why Summerset is made of stone instead of as the lore described. Unfortunately it felt contrived to answer that you were being consistent with your own design choices (Auridon) and reductive to say that people had enough of insect-winged houses in Morrowind. Give honest answers or no answers at all please.

SirCritical

VerboseQuips wrote: »

I have a lot of questions, I hope some of them can be answered.

Ahem. Almost every 2nd word I could understand

WhiteCoatSyndrome

Jim_Pipp wrote: »

Thank you for addressing the long running discussion about why Summerset is made of stone instead of as the lore described. Unfortunately it felt contrived to answer that you were being consistent with your own design choices (Auridon) and reductive to say that people had enough of insect-winged houses in Morrowind. Give honest answers or no answers at all please.

Given the amount of stuttering the poor man did when the question came up - @ZOS_GinaBruno , did no one warn @ZOS_Lawrence_Schick just how much fallout that retcon generated? I grant you, as Loremaster he has a large portion of the blame for it, but we know he doesn't visit the forums much, and having the rest of the company send him out on a live camera feed with no forewarning seems unkind.

Dracane

I just watched this stream and I am amazed. There were some things that almost made me cry out of happiness, because Sir Lawrence spoke out things that I always imagined for years. Just saying, #MaormerTears #GetRektOrgnum

I reckon doing a long stream like this takes a lot of preparation, but I would love to see more loremaster streams whenever the chance arises It's so informative and interesting.

Alarra

Jim_Pipp wrote: »

Thank you for addressing the long running discussion about why Summerset is made of stone instead of as the lore described. Unfortunately it felt contrived to answer that you were being consistent with your own design choices (Auridon) and reductive to say that people had enough of insect-winged houses in Morrowind. Give honest answers or no answers at all please.

To be fair, the lorebook that originally described it as such mentioned while doing so that the “insect wings” description came from humans who weren’t even allowed into the city, and in the very next sentence dismisses it as a fanciful account, comparing it to a different description (which mentions sun shining off of the buildings’ stones).

A forbidden city for nearly fifty years, Alinor is both capital of the Summerset Isles and the heart of the Aldmeri Dominion. Human traders were only allowed at its ports, and they described the city as "made from glass or insect wings." Less fantastic accounts come from the Imperial emissaries of the Reman Dynasty, which describe the city as straight and glimmering, "a hypnotic swirl of ramparts and impossibly high towers, designed to catch the light of the sun and break it to its component colors, which lies draped across its stones until you are thankful for nightfall."

Zells

VerboseQuips wrote: »

I have a lot of questions, I hope some of them can be answered.

[*] Sotha Sil and Lilatha called Nocturnal "Ur-Dra". What does it mean?

This one I know - "Ur" means first/original (the ur-Tower was the first Tower), and "Dra" means ancestor (as in Aedra / Daedra).

Nocturnal, being the goddess of night and mystery, is intimately connected to the Void from which all the et'Ada came, and claims to be an aspect of it. Since the Void spawned them, Nocturnal is therefore the First Ancestor to the Daedra.