Peanuts ftw.

I really wanted to take a legitimate stab at answering this... But I do like peanuts. A lot.

Cashews

I'm an elephant, but I think that ad or dc is the strongest, but i like Ep the most!

In the end all alliances are screwed by the fact that all the political figures are pointless weak figureheads. In the end the real power is in the hands of a continuous stream of mostly vampire, magic peanut point collecting, false emperors.

All three of them are made up of nations who have never been able to get along - I think one thing the lore is fairly clear on is that it takes a supernatural conquering force (in the form of Tiber Septim) to get them to settle down. You've probably got to think of the failure modes-

DC: The bretons are supposed to be plagued by infighting between the various aristocrats and their politics is general feudalistic chaos, so King Emeric probably had a pretty huge sword of Damocles over his head before he even got involved with the redguards. Like, the dark brotherhood probably know all the secret passages in his castle inside out. With the redguards you've got a ready made civil war due to the long-standing crown and forbear factions, and they're proud and independent so probably bear the idea of being ruled by a breton king very heavily. The diplomatic marriage is a good idea but it's just one assassination away from catastrophic failure. As for the orcs, it's only a matter of time before they lose interest in fighting for people who hate them, and I don't they could ever be relied on really. On the other hand they're unlikely to be a loose cannon if they do leave. Overall strength rating: 3/5

AD: Altmer live a long time. They don't work like humans, and just aren't impressed by the stuff Ayrenn achieves during her reign. Those deeds just serve to impress the khajiit and bosmer, who are effectively like animals to them because their lives are so comparatively short and violent. Veiled heritance aside, Ayrenn is probably going to be merely tolerated by her fellow altmer for hundreds of years to come. But then again, altmer live a long time so their real political processes take place over centuries rather than years, and they're very good at hiding their strength instead of making a great display of temporal power. I would expect they would fall away from the alliance because they're just not interested in making a play for mainland Tamriel unless they've already seen to it that victory is inevitable (which is what happens in the 4th Era). On the other hand, Summerset isn't under threat from anyone else, it's effectively impregnable. Again it took a supernatural fluke in the form of Tiber Septim for that impregnability to fail.
Whether the other two stay in line depends entirely on whether the altmer keep them in line; they're naturally enemies to each other and to co-operation with other races in general. They would probably not stand up for long against a concerted assault from a powerful foe, the inhospitability of their homelands notwithstanding. Overall strength rating: 4/5

EP: Doomed. The nords and dunmer are both more likely to succeed alone than as an alliance, whereas the argonians aren't really the conquering type - I mean, at the end of the day, they are very much like plants, occupying the areas where they can live comfortably, prudently driving out unfriendly competition and just not feeling the need to expand en masse. Neither, really, are the Dunmer - their whole identity is built around living where nobody else would want to live, and being essentially impossible to conquer on a cultural level (for example, do house Telvanni in any way resemble imperial citizens in Morrowind?) The nords do have a history and culture of conquest, but it's always been on their own terms. In a territorial war, either victory or defeat in any measure would surely fatally fracture the alliance and all three races would turn on each other. Overall strength rating: 1/5

They're all strong, they all have their downsides.

None of them are stronger, which is why we have a three way deadlock going on right now. If one of them was stronger, the other two would either band together and wipe them out, or the stronger faction would sweep the other two and control all of Tamriel and the game would be pointless.

Daedric

Especially those peanuts that have been sitting in a dish in a bar all week.

The peanut is neither a pea, nor a nut.



Oh wait, it is a nut......

EP, based on their races.

Even though the Pact is fragile due to the races not being very tolerant of each other, they do have some of the best warriors in Tamriel. Jorun appears to be a very competent King, and the other races seem to have respect for him.

The Nords, and their long history of conquest. They did conquer all of Northern Tamriel under Ysgrammor. They love battle, and have the size and strength to be dangerous opponents. Plus, their Skald-King is leading the charge.

The Dunmer are powerful mages, and have a martial culture. They also have 3 living "God-Kings" with the power from the Heart of Lhorkan, and they defeated the Akiviri invasion (with help from the Argonians).

The Argonians are certified badasses. They're Shellback warriors and Shadowscales are forces to be feared. They're also the only race to invade Oblivion during the Oblivion crisis. They may appear peaceful, but they are skilled guerrilla fighters, and have the will to remain free of chains.

Dekkameron wrote: »

Selique wrote: »

The Nords, and their long history of conquest. They did conquer all of Tamriel under Ysgrammor. They love battle, and have the size and strength to be dangerous opponents. Plus, their Skald-King is leading the charge.

ALL of Tamriel you say? Er.. No.

Joruun Skald-King not only sounds like he's had a nasty stroke, but is a weak minded buffoon!

You're right, my mistake. All of Northern Tamriel. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Nord