The Age of Oppression

Polytheist

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We drink to our youth, to the days come and gone.
For the age of oppression is now nearly done.

Appendix

Originally this was going to be attached to the last chapter as several sentences explaining the inspiration behind each chapter. However a rather interesting review has inspired me to expand upon it.

I will admit to not really playing as a Stormcloak; the only time I did was to get past the Battle of Whiterun in order to inspire more scenarios for this story.

And I will confess to thinking, when I watched a playthrough of the main quest by a Stormcloak player, that the words said by Jarl Gray-Mane during the capture of Odahviig sounded insincere with compared to when spoken by Balgruuf and that I feel that, overall, the Empire is the better choice for the future of Skyrim.

With the battle of Whiterun, while Ufric Stormcloak may believe that "taking his city and leaving him [Balgruuf] in disgrace will make a more powerful statement" the person he put in charge of the siege, Galmar Stone-Fist, believes that "if he [Balgruuf] not with us [the Stormcloaks], he's against us" and would prefer to shove "a sword through his gullet". So the first chapter was an attempt at a more realistic end to Balgruuf's last stand. Incidentally Irileth is off protecting Balgruuf's children as he strikes me as someone who would put their well-being above his own, so would send one of his most trusted and capable warriors to ensure their safety.

With the Dragonborn, Balgruuf refused to help because the Civil War threatened Whiterun; so the Dragonborn decided to end it permanently, rather than risk a fragile truce, and, being a Nord, joined the Stormcloaks, influenced by his attempted execution by the Empire and his reverence of the outlawed Talos. With the ending, his actions, directly or otherwise, led to the death of someone he considered a friend; or at the very least respected. So some guilt is understandable and expected.

The second chapter was a show of a consequence of a regime change, specifically the change in law. Anoriath goes and hunts as he always does, unaware that the law has changed; therefore he is punished for poaching and while the punishment may seem harsh, ultimately Jarl Gray-Mane is acting in the right because ignorance of the law is not an excuse. However seeing as Jarl Gray-Mane would have had no experience in running a city it felt plausible that he would fashion his rule after the example of Ulfric and Windhelm, a place where Dark Elves are notoriously treated poorly and so would extend such practices to his own city; the treatment would no doubt be generally applied, giving the overall disdain for Elves in general, and perhaps exaggerated seeing as the only example Gray-Mane can follow is from word-of-mouth and rumour, which would explain the perceived harshness of the punishment.

The third chapter is based on Arcadia's comment that "they [the Stormcloaks] won't shop here because they think I'll sell them poisoned tonics". Also you now have a commander of the guard who is very self assured in his way of securing Whiterun's defence; "...I could do his [Commander Caius] job blindfolded...". So he takes it upon himself to try and force this potential threat out of his city by, essentially, extorting her and making it too unpleasant to stay. But there is a pseudo shrine to Mephala, the Daedra associated with plots, in the city so Sinmir's scheme becomes corrupted which in turns leads to his own corruption.

This brings me to the Temple of Kynareth.

Jarl Gray-Mane makes a comment about how he plans to build a temple to Talos in Whiterun and, jokingly, suggests putting Heimskr in charge of it. But the city's gold is now tied up in the Civil War and there just so happens to be a perfectly good temple right in middle of the city. So in order to keep his word and save on gold, he sends his commander of the guard to merely evict the incumbent priestess. The guard captain who has been corrupted by a Daedra Prince; so things go more violently than planned.

The chapter with the Battle-Borns explores the fallout of the previous actions. With the desecration of the temple dedicated to the Goddess associated with the wind and rain, a great, seemingly unending storm now wracks Whiterun; damaging the crops and reducing the food supply. The Battle-Borns made a considerable part of their wealth from Imperial alliances and their farm, both of which are now practically non-existence, causing their prestige to lower dramatically. So when orders come from Windhelm to crack down on potential dissentients and Imperial spies Jarl Gray-Mane points the Stormcloaks in the direction of the family his is currently feuding with; thereby removing one opponent of his rule.

This was done because of the Civil War. After the Battle for Whiterun Jarl Gray-Mane immediately granted the Dragonborn's request for help in honour of him practically giving him the city; inadvertently removing the Dragon's incentive to fight for the Stormcloaks. So without the Dragonborn the Civil War returns to what was before: a stalemate back-and-forth between General Tullius' tactics and Ulfric's guerrilla style warfare, tying up more gold and resources on both sides; which will severely affect the morale of the Stormcloak and the already battered Whiterun.

The next two chapters are basically following on; showing the effect the damage morale is having on the populace. With such a powder keg a violent reaction seemed inevitable.

With Jarl Gray-Mane having sworn himself to Ulfric and the Stormcloak cause he has essentially cut himself off from the other Companions, add to this the pressures applied to a new, inexperienced ruler, results in him becoming a lot more caustic and short tempered with those around him; especially if they appear to criticise him or insult his Nordic honour, perceived or otherwise.

Now for the final chapter, the moot.

The Stormcloak Jarls are all united by a single purpose: the liberation of Skyrim; with that having been achieved there is nothing now to focus and balance the conflicting personalities. Ulfric may be a savvy enough politician to unite people under his flag but surely his image would have been tarnished by his perceived inaction during the war; considering it is the Dragonborn who has basically won the war, seemingly by himself - especially considering the final final with Tullius is only witnessed by Ulfric and his two most loyal soldiers, casting doubt on what actually happened. And if the people of Skyrim fought themselves once, what is stopping them from doing so again now that the different sub-factions have no more oversight?