"It looks like High Rock should own this part." The Forsworn: "Our thoughts exactly!"
@alexbattaglia82973 жыл бұрын
Forsworn kinda hate the Bretons too, they kinda want to be their own thing, despite racially being Breton, they are completely different culturally and religiously
@DoctorLawful5 ай бұрын
@user-lk7cv8vg7r no they are definitely bretons
@jakubolszewski82845 ай бұрын
@user-lk7cv8vg7rDefinitely not atmoran.
@renaigh3 ай бұрын
the Forsworn don't represent High Rock.
@EGOwaffleboy2 ай бұрын
3:36 Yes there is. His name is Tiber Septim
@meiscott87944 жыл бұрын
Can you do a worldbuilding:Wyoming? Ever since the dark elves invaded Wyoming, they made the state border dynamic and detailed.
@ohcaptainmycaptain34784 жыл бұрын
Who's Why-owning?????
@draconex14 жыл бұрын
Wyoming has such a unique shape indeed, been there my whole life and I still have yet to find why Colorado mimics its shape
@Monorat4 жыл бұрын
Well they created an anti-memetic border so when you enter Wyoming you forgot you were there immediately and ended up on the other side. Wyoming does exist but no one knows it.
@SurprisinglyDynamicAnimeSideC4 жыл бұрын
MonoRat Similar to how New Zealand functions in games featuring the entire map.
@JB-xl2jc4 жыл бұрын
The lush jungles of Wyoming necessitated the Dunmeri invasion, honestly.
@hollowhoagie64414 жыл бұрын
Step 1: draw out the tectonic plate lines Step 2: draw the continents and maybe some fault lines Step 3: draw mountains on tectonic lines on continents where they meet, ravines in the ocean, plateaus or hills descending from the mountains and hills descending from the plateau. Step 4: draw rivers descending from the mountains following the path of elevation downwards, water always flows downhill and almost never branches off creating a distributary. Step 5: establish water currents and where warm water will go, as well as where winds will go. These will help determine the weather along with the mountains Step 6: when rain flows to a mountain, the rainy side should be more lush than the opposite side. If lakes equivalent to the great Lakes exist (ones created by glaciers) then mountains won't matter much. Places that don't receive much rain because of dry winds will be deserts and probably will lack many rivers and lakes. Step 8: now with all this information, you can start placing down towns and cities. Towns on rivers, cities on low coast to act as ports, or on navigable rivers. And villages can be scattered, just make sure any large settlement has water and a road connected to it, roads should lead to the capital but not always, they can lead to major cities instead. Without roads that town or city would be pretty independent Step 7: now you can draw the country borders. Think of power dynamics and how they've changed. Don't just give land to a country for sexy borders, make sure there's a legitimate reason the country has that land. Either because it's rich in resources or the leader wanted to expand the nation's influence. That's all I can think of
@ronanshanley78294 жыл бұрын
hey how do you save someone else's comment?
@hollowhoagie64414 жыл бұрын
@@ronanshanley7829 unfortunately this ain't reddit, KZfaq needs to add this feature.
@hhh05114 жыл бұрын
@@ronanshanley7829 copy and paste it into a .txt file
@midnamagic26784 жыл бұрын
7 and 8 are flipped
@mondaysinsanity81934 жыл бұрын
India and Pakistan's been fighting forever over an uninhabitable plateau with no resources....js sometimes people are just kinda stupid
@SpookeyGael4 жыл бұрын
The idea that rivers are always natural borders is a bit of misconception. Rivers are typically easy to cross with a boat or a bridge (not true with mountains, which are used as borders much more often). Add to that the inherent value of rivers for trade and transport, as well as river valleys often being great farmland, and it makes owning the whole river much more valuable than just half of it. For example, the Nile, Tigris/Euphrates, Ganges, and Indus river were almost never used as borders for the aformentioned reasons. So rivers = borders is by no means a hard rule.
@northropi20274 жыл бұрын
@@cakmadavinci8901 kind of figured something like that may have been a factor. Can't quite build/carry a boat, launch it, then just ride across when under ranged attack. Same for bridges, which would also be massive choke points. It might be nothing more than a brief hassle to establish infrastructure to pass in peacetime but an advancing force could really get bogged down there.
@MapleFried4 жыл бұрын
I live on the Eastern border of Ontario and Quebec and most of the border between the two provinces is the St-Laurence river which flows into the Ottawa River, which itself flows in the Northern Mississippi.
@rublikonemamtucha69664 жыл бұрын
Yet sizable part of Roman borders were rivers Danube and Rhine. Crossing rivers may be not that hard for a single person, however its very hard for armies to cross.
@SpookeyGael4 жыл бұрын
@@rublikonemamtucha6966 The Romans used the Danube as a border because it was on the edge of their empire, not because they reached it and were like "damn guess we can't cross this let's just go home". Besides, the Romans made several incursions into Dacia (modern Romania) and it was a client state for a time. Rivers do make good borders, but all rivers are not borders by default.
@rublikonemamtucha69664 жыл бұрын
@@SpookeyGael Yeah obviously but it was a very convinient borders for their empire. Not because they couldnt cross it, but because its easiely defendable. There is a reason why Attila demanded the Romans to abandon just few kilometers of border along the river Danube in one of the peace treaties - Romans lost a great line of defence, making his future raids easier. Also, Romans didnt really invade Dacia because of their ambitions to expand the empire further - it was a reactionary, defensive war. And the fact that the conquered territory became a client state instead of becoming fully part of the empire shows even moře how important Danube was to the Romans.
@ihavenomouthandimusttype97294 жыл бұрын
“Skyrim likes to be simple.” Truer words were never spoken.
@HavenBriar4 жыл бұрын
need something?
@znightowlz65854 жыл бұрын
Ice Flow where it is edgy
@znightowlz65854 жыл бұрын
The map is FILLED with details
@goolabbolshevish1t6514 жыл бұрын
@@znightowlz6585 elder scrolls 2 and 3 were edgy.(read up on The interactions between The deadra, the tribunal and several of the nobles) The benefits of not being completely taken over by zenimax and not having all your original devs driven out yet.
@MegasXaos4 жыл бұрын
@@goolabbolshevish1t651 Fallout and Elder scrolls both suffer from this. It's the continual dumbing down of everything in the game. It has to be simplified for the masses. There are no negative outcomes any longer. From character creation to quest lines, everything has been made simple and there is always a right answer with little to no downside whatsoever. Most quests ends with choices like: 1) Piss off faction A for 1000 gold 2) Piss off faction B for 1000 gold 3) Piss off both factions for 250 gold 4) Everyone is happy and you get 3000 gold Langue skills in elder scrolls? To complicated, players aren't smart enough to figure it out. Cut them. Magic crafting could become overpowered and nonsensically enjoyable? Cut it, quick! Before people like it too much. Want to use a sword and shield and cast spells at the same time? You could in Oblivion, but that's too complex for Skyrim.
@DragonessYT4 жыл бұрын
15:09 Actually they do use the Pale Pass. It's mentioned in a letter at the Falkreath fort if the Stormcloaks have it that the Pass is currently covered in an avalanche and the Empire has been digging it out.
@EvilFuzzy94 жыл бұрын
“Most people start with an outline of the continent, then add in mountains and rivers and stuff” “You should start with the coasts, and mountains and rivers”
@MrBigCookieCrumble4 жыл бұрын
"I dont really buy that" Only to tell the viewer to do exactly that 0.3 secs later. Thats when i stopped listening honestly..
@pringles_mcgee4 жыл бұрын
seriously lmfao. I don't think I've found a "MUH REALISM" youtuber who has ever managed to remain logically consistent.
@Xick4 жыл бұрын
I went back to that a few times and still feel like I must've misunderstood. Was it a joke?
@Arkangel6304 жыл бұрын
@@paddyotterness I honestly expected him to go on a rant about strong and weak facial features at any moment.
@7dayspking4 жыл бұрын
@@paddyotterness I thought he was speaking another language honestly. Didn't understand a word he was saying.
@grouchymax64514 жыл бұрын
Mountains are the more logical natural borders. Rivers are secondary.
@TheHornedKing_273 жыл бұрын
Agreed rivers should only be used if there are no mountains
@mrfancypanzer549 Жыл бұрын
True but rivers running alongside a mountain range is a more definite marker, instead of trying to figure out where along the mountain the border is.
@ihavenomouthandimusttype97294 жыл бұрын
Stoneworks: Skyrim is so well designed! Me: Wait. Takes a map of Ireland, rotates it 90 degrees anti clockwise. “Breathes in through nose and exhaling, carries on with day”
@afuckingkomododragon25314 жыл бұрын
Sometimes, it's better to not know the truth.
@thinkingmachine3544 жыл бұрын
The Modern Storyteller Skyrim is so well designed, Ireland took inspiration.
@valkeakirahvi4 жыл бұрын
That's actually a very good trick if you want natural looking shapes on your maps. I used a map of Hungary for one of my islands because I think the shape is cool :P
@thoughtpolice21914 жыл бұрын
Valkea Kirahvi use old formations as well.
@wilhelmrk4 жыл бұрын
@@valkeakirahvi use the pre ww1 shape of hungary for more interessant spaces
@devlynnorth66184 жыл бұрын
Mountains are better borders than rivers, Because huge mountains are harder to cross and claim than water. If you can't reach the river, you can't have the river
@dancingcarapace3 жыл бұрын
Hannibal: Are you challenging me? You challenging my Elephants?
@justin23083 жыл бұрын
“If you can’t reach the river, you can’t have it.” I want to imagine a lot of ancient wars started not over religion or politics but the fact that some guy tied to the deed to a river to a fishing line and dangled it in front of someone’s face. 🤣
@Deidara81586 Жыл бұрын
If you cant REACH it then REACH isn't yours lol
@blazethesteamdragon62024 жыл бұрын
The way I went about shaping continents and regions was by importing a rule from OC creation, it was a tip for creating uniquely designed characters (though I think the rule breaks down with more realistic characters.) Make the silhouette distinct. If your region's silhouette is put into a group with other silhouettes of blobs and regions, tilted, flipped n resized, and you can find it quickly then you're on the right track. Kinda like how Australia is really recognizable as an arc with horns and a lil crescent shaped island close by.
@mushroomsoup28664 жыл бұрын
@Not Important Wyoming and Colorado messed up big time
@hashiramasenju32464 жыл бұрын
Yeah! AND your state isnt a mitten!
@leiderhosen71104 жыл бұрын
@@hashiramasenju3246 Ayy that's MY mitten
@hashiramasenju32464 жыл бұрын
@@leiderhosen7110 compromise? You can have the UP.
@jennytulls63694 жыл бұрын
I believe that one of the devs of Team Fortress 2 stated that this was the philosophy when designing the mercenaries
@Fr0st19894 жыл бұрын
15:14 the Imperials do in fact use Pale Pass for cargo/reinforcements, as implied by a note you can find in a Stormcloak controlled fort in which the author is worried about a Legion massing at Pale Pass
@MasterAdam1002 жыл бұрын
Exactly. The developers just didn't want to program an actual path into Cyrodil, for obvious reasons. You gotta use a little reasonable imagination when filling in the blanks in worlds like this, Stromcloak note or not.
@KingLama9994 жыл бұрын
When he started drawing lines I was like he’s making shit up now
@evancrow21913 жыл бұрын
Kind of me. Took a while for me to understand what he was saying
@colincurtin67873 жыл бұрын
I was waiting for him to talk about how the spaghetti decides where the borders are, and the meatballs hold all the answers, like what the fuck are you talking about?!?
@BearNDragon3 жыл бұрын
cant believe this got in my suggestion feed what a bunch of garbage.
@ChillMeNow3 жыл бұрын
Was looking for this thread. I dont understand why this was suggested on my feed. This is pure bull
@brohvakiindova44523 жыл бұрын
*snorts some coke* sooo yeah I don't know italian borders should stop right at about venice because the boot shape is a little ruined by all that political border nonsense also who the fuck thought it was a good idea to give the southern peninsula below california to mexico? completely unnatural border...
@LickMyRainbow774 жыл бұрын
The mountain ranges of skyrim and Tamriel annoy me so much as a geography nerd. I know from a purely game mechanic sense, they're there to serve as the walls to the world space, but the fact that the three of them are almost at right angles to each other makes no sense from a geological sense. Almost all mountain ranges form along tectonic boundaries of fault lines. I could buy the Jerall Mountain being formed from the Skyrim and Cyrodiil plates meeting and the Velothi Mountains as a side effect Red Mountain and of the Morrowind plates dragging along. But the High Rock Druadach Mountain make no sense and I hate them! *angry geology noises*
@GlidusFlowers4 жыл бұрын
Strong Amazon Imo; still preferable to the fallout 4 “You cannot go that way”
@OdogIgor4 жыл бұрын
Bro I guess the Warcraft map makes you fainted
@LickMyRainbow774 жыл бұрын
@@OdogIgor It annoys me there too but they get a pass because they're not trying to be even remotely realistic. Plus I don't care enough about wow to get mad about it
@aralornwolf31404 жыл бұрын
You don't mind WoW being unrealistic... but hate the way Tamriel is laid out. *Sigh* I think you should be feeling the reverse... Tamriel was created by the Aedra and Deadra. This has been confirmed by nearly every race (including dragons). Keep in mind they are as real as it's possible to be for powerful beings in a fantasy setting. So, we can accept that they are telling the truth, mostly. By the start of Elder Scrolls V, Tamriel has only been around for less than 7,000 years. Tamriel is, at most 10,000 years old. That's not long enough for mountain chains to exist from tectonic plates. Volcanic activity is capable of making mountains within that time, yet most of the mountain ranges, from what I remember in game, don't have a single volcano. However, 7,000 to 10,000 years is enough for rivers to cut gorges through mountain ranges. Therefore, Tamriel makes sense as it's too young for tectonic plates to actually change geography... climate changes are the only things which create fast enough changes to affect geography and we see it everywhere.
@Connordaboss454 жыл бұрын
In ES the world is flat
@edugabreu4 жыл бұрын
When he was speaking about High Rock "claims" to the West of Skyrim, I remembered that when the Nords arrived from Atmora and eventually took Skyrim for themselves, there were already Men living in the region. In fact, in the 4th Era there's still people fighting against this Nord occupation, per say. The Reachmen even look more like High Rock men (not speaking of Bretons here) than anything else.
@goolabbolshevish1t6514 жыл бұрын
Actually the high rock peoples are descended from the earlier arrivals to skyrim. When the snow elves slaughtered the original human settlement a number of the people fled. It's explained in one of the books in skyrim, they fled and were captured then enslaved by high elves. A number of generations latter when Nords spread out they encountered them and mistook them for some form of mer and killed a bunch, a survivor explained to them that after being enslaved and breeding (weather they liked it or not) with elves they had become what they are now which disgusted the nords. Hence why they have higher magical talents as well as a resistance to magic.
@angela_merkeI3 жыл бұрын
The Reach belongs to the Forsworn!
@enderman_6663 жыл бұрын
@@angela_merkeI nope
@inciaradible71444 жыл бұрын
Skyrim: *exists* Stoneworks: *notices bulge*
@picklem5764 жыл бұрын
UWU
@duskyracer88004 жыл бұрын
@@picklem576 I was gonna say that
@lukesmith88964 жыл бұрын
@@duskyracer8800 I 'noticed' that
@leoanathetiger68143 жыл бұрын
OwO Skyrim senpi, notices your throat of the world. UwU Why am I like this?
@youmadeafuckywuckygetinthe25253 жыл бұрын
UwU Whats this?
@whollyhandgrenade134 жыл бұрын
Solitude makes sense as an Imperial trade port, though. By the events of Skyrim, Tamriel is in the midst of a Cold War. The Aldmeri Dominion isn't going to provoke a premature war by interfering with Imperial shipping. They could demand payment for passage or take the opportunity to spy on the Empire through their trade traffic, seeing how deeply entrenched the Thalmor are in Imperial life in the game. Hammerfell wouldn't want to rock the boat either. They may not like the Empire for throwing them to the wolves, but the Thalmor are as big a threat to them as the rest of Tamriel and they know it. Messing with Imperial trade doesn't help them at all.
@treeaboo4 жыл бұрын
Also Anvil is still a massive port city in Cyrodiil and the one that does most of the trade with Solitude, which bypasses having to go through Dominion controlled seas.
@Himmyjewett4 жыл бұрын
Except for the fact that you know the f****** high of bastards are paying Ulfric Stormcloak to win and mere people are not real people elfs well not replace us elfs well not replace us elfs well not replace us elfs well not replace us elfs well not replace us
@clothar234 жыл бұрын
@@Himmyjewett They're not paying him to win. The Thalmor are doing everything in their power to keep the Skyrim Civil war going. This includes supplying and supporting the Stormcloaks . Since Ulfric couldn't win a tavern fight let alone a war. However given enough aid through background channels the Stormcloaks can keep the Imperials busy and their attention divided between Skyrim and the other borders.
@Himmyjewett4 жыл бұрын
@@clothar23 yeah that's why they're trying to keep the Stormcloaks secretly good to fight we all know that you're paying them surprise money doesn't matter they knew what was going to happen and they were ready
@dantevivas6933 жыл бұрын
@@Himmyjewett Chill, Pelinal
@reyhaz4 жыл бұрын
As a Logistics Engineer, I'd like to add a few: About the lore stuff at the end, namely why the Empire doesn't choose to use Pale Pass for trade route instead shipping across two enemy domains' water is simply a matter of money & tech. You see, when you want to move a whole lot of things (preferably heavy stuff or highly valued, like provisions for a war), big ships like galleons are way better than a line of carts. Cheaper. Maintaining a ship and it's crew is much cheaper than maintaining all those horses, carts, guardsmen along the road, outposts along the road and inns, carpentry and blacksmiths along the road (for repair purposes), animal handlers (for changing horses, etc). Out on the water, it's rather hard to ambush a trade caravan, yet on land it's like walk in a park, so it's about a matter of security too. Also not forget, that aren't just the opposing forces have to deal with, but bandits too, so there's a whole lot more danger along the road (not to mention the hostile fauna). Weather is also a factor, on sea, there's only about two kind of weathers that a sailor has to deal with: calm (can't go with no wind) and storm (probability to turn over or washing ashore). While on the road: too much heat (animals, people need more water), too cold (animals and people need more frequent stops to warm up), blizzards (visibility goes out the window, cold, wind and snow makes it difficult to steer or climbing up the hills), rain (makes quagmire out of the dirt, or slippery the road). And do not forget the basic technology of transportation and roads. Yes, Romans had high quality roads, but they too preferred the waterways when they could choose between the two (today also preferred to use water ways instead of roads). Because those roads, unfortunately aren't fit for high density trade routes. And the technology of transport vehicles? A cart with a wooden wheel (maybe an iron plate running across as "tire"), with no suspension (that technology is yet way away in time), on rocky road. And do this in a middle of a civil war. Add that together and you'll have a logistic nightmare. So, yes even today, with all the tech, we still prefer using water ways to haul the huge stuff (=huge in volume), because the cost/weight (or cost/profit) ratio is a whole lot better.
@seraphina9853 жыл бұрын
Also, it arguably depends a lot on just how aggressive the antagonistic powers are, actively engaging in armed attacks on foreign vessels or overtly supporting those who do is the sort of provocation that forces the other side to at minimum match the escalation of force. When your enemy is already embroiled in a civil war then covertly support the rebellious forces with your enemy's territory. Sure the opposing side will almost certainly learn of this through their intelligence networks but it is not like they will generally have the desire to start a foreign war while embroiled in a civil war. Military intelligence is a lot easier for them to keep quiet from the population so they don't start demanding action making this a pretty good strategy to weaken your opponent by dragging out the internal conflict for as long as possible. All the while you can invest in your own military to strengthen yourself so you get stronger while your enemy gets weaker if you can pull this off for long enough then you can hope to shift the balance of power to the point you can sweep in to take advantage of the chaos when the enemy is weak. Not to mention a weak, war-weary enemy that has been in a protracted civil war is likely to be cheaper to extract the concessions you want from they really don't want to fight anymore and this presents an opportunity to extract the best kind of victory ie the one in which you don't even need to fight.
@yuirick4 жыл бұрын
"Every dm goes coast, river mountain, which sucks, so now I'm going to focus on how Skyrim makes everything cool out of coasts, rivers and mountains." ... What? Am I missing something?
@iopklmification4 жыл бұрын
It's all about them coasts, rivers and mountains mate.
@yuirick4 жыл бұрын
@@iopklmification It really is.
@kiwi49984 жыл бұрын
I think it’s meant to be a joke
@MapleFried4 жыл бұрын
I think it's moreso that most DM's don't take the method and reasons mountains, rivers, and coastlines are formed and inhabited into account as they're more focused on making a cool-looking world rather than a world that might have a believable history
@nerobernardino884 жыл бұрын
@@MapleFried Yeah and then the guy proceeds to explain why he preffers the borders that look cool to him.
@pavelslama55434 жыл бұрын
Although I really like these worldbuilding summaries, this sounds far too subjective.
@ColinPaddock4 жыл бұрын
It sounds to me like he has the skeleton of several… what could be good ideas… but he really doesn’t have a handle on the ideas yet. The ambiguous boundaries between the ideas he’s trying to work out makes them interesting 🧐 Wait. What were we talking about?👐
@lucasvivante89884 жыл бұрын
Thought the same. Boring video
@megadev90994 жыл бұрын
Exactly. The "skeleton" concept is completely irrelevant. You can draw some random lines anywhere. They have no bearing on anything.
@Himmyjewett4 жыл бұрын
@@megadev9099 you never made a fantasy map
@RushGamma4 жыл бұрын
Well, 80% of this video is "I like this or I feel this" Almost nothing he says is objective. Its all *I* *I* *I*
@demonxkiller14 жыл бұрын
Nobody: Stoneworks World Building: "You guys want some map bones?!?"
@raihanadhitya3784 жыл бұрын
Boneless map please
@blkgardner4 жыл бұрын
It is typically easier to travel by sea than across land, especially through sub-arctic mountain ranges. But more importantly, imperial administration is not about establishing a foot-hold after-the-fact when a rebellion starts. It is about actually administering the empire. In its glory days, the Empire was not particularly concerned about rebellions in Skyrim, as it was among its most loyal provinces. Solitude was the capital of Skyrim, and is a natural center of trade due to its location at the mouth of a river. It is the largest city in Skyrim, and the where the King of Skyrim reigns, so naturally, it is where the legion has its base. A rebellion king is more of a threat than a rebellious Jarl. The trade routes would not really go through Skyrim, but rather, along the coasts and through the ocean. So, Solitude would be a natural main trade hub.
@AlHyckGaemsTAD4 жыл бұрын
You're right. But, any military organization is going to prioritize logistics over "hearts-and-minds" especially when the logistics is either; a few weeks across allied territory or a few "weeks" through antagonistic waters which is exactly what the elves ought to be. Establishing a heavy presence in Falkreath would guarantee a strong position to secure Skyrim, with minimal garrison in Solitude if they can manage it. Priorities.
@clothar234 жыл бұрын
@@AlHyckGaemsTAD Not to mention as stated in the video the Imperials are Roman based. And those guys had no issue marching armies through the Alps and other mountainous terrain. And built spanning road networks, bridges, and even tunnels through said mountains to aid transportation through the mountains.
@abiwonkenabi70274 жыл бұрын
@@AlHyckGaemsTAD While I partially agree, its not as if Imperial presence should disappear in Solitude either. Solitude is not the one rebelling, and it is still the capital of Skyrim, so the large Imperial presence still makes sense. Skyrim still needs to be run even if half of it is rebelling. However, I agree it would have made sense to see a larger Imperial presence in Falkreath as well, especially a military presence.
@t.b.cont.4 жыл бұрын
There is content that explains markarth belonging to Skyrim. There was apparently a lot of fighting over it years ago, and during the empire/dominion war there was a rebellion by the native bretons and they were sovereign for a little bit until they were again brutalized and subjugated by the nords with the help of ulfric stormcloak. Later on the former Breton king would rebel again and he was captured by the markarth jarl, and held prisoner in cidna mine. His followers would be driven into the mountains and become who we call the forsworn, becoming more tribal and shamanistic in nature as they allied themselves with hagravens in hopes that their old magicks would help in getting revenge against their Nordic subjugators
@reyne28783 жыл бұрын
This belief that the Forsworn are somehow native to the Reach and the Nords aren't is stupid as hell. Markarth was part of the Snow-Elven Empire which fell to Ysgramor and his Atmorans, the ancestors of the Nords, and it is clear in books found in Skyrim that Nordic soldiers first encountered Proto-Bretons in their expansions west into High-Rock (Or, the part of the "Reach" which belongs to High Rock.) By the time of King Harald, Skyrim had been fully unified under the reign of Windhelm and the House of Ysgramor, and this means all of Skyrim, including the Eastern Reach. By this time, Bretons were still an infant race, and for people to somehow suggest they had managed to take Markarth and the Eastern Reach from the Dwemer and the Falmer (Two Races which the Nords would defeat for full control over Skyrim, with the Dwemer holds of Skyrim being the last defeated during the Aetherium wars) while all historical proof shows that the Nords were, in fact, the first humans to control both the Eastern and Western Reach is stupid. By the time of King Harald, the Eastern Reach was part of the High-Kingdom of Skyrim, by the time of his son, King Vrage, the Nordic Empire stretched both portions of the Reach and ruled as far as Daggerfall and Morrowind with the exception of Vardenfell. It's much more probable that the Forsworn migrated to the Eastern Reach during the war of succession after the death of High King Borgas and the fall of the Nordic Empire, for afterwards Skyrim was reunified again under the reign of Olaf the one Eyed's Whiterun. It was probably after the fall of Hoag Merkiller and the first death of Wulfharth that the Forsworn would take power over the reach from the (Firstly-arrived) Nords, and would probably lose it and gain it back during the many interregnums that befell Skyrim after the loss at Red Mountain, and then the subsequent division of Skyrim into two Kingdoms.
@RRapierre3 жыл бұрын
This video is such a mess lol. I clicked it hoping to watch an in-depth video that connects Tamriel's landscape to real world anthropology, human migration, and logistics... instead he just says that "this area looks good visually on a map because its a well defined basin between rivers etc". Near the end of the video he seems to get the right idea but doesn't fully understand why Skyrim's landscape works just as fine as in real life. First of all, rivers being borders in the real world is the exception, not the norm. Regions are not defined between rivers, but *around* rivers. Just look at ancient civilizations; Ancient Egypt was centered along the Nile River. The Nile did not split Egypt into "West Egypt" and "East Egypt", Egypt *was* the Nile river valley. Same with Babylon and Sumeria on both sides of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, or the Indus River Valley civilization on both sides of the Indus River, or the Yellow River which is the cultural center of China. Man has always defined their areas between mountains and not between rivers. Think about how much easier it is to herd livestock, grow crops, live along and cross a river, as opposed to crossing mountains. Even today it is easier to construct a bridge than to bore a tunnel. Mountains are natural barriers while rivers are natural providers of food, water, and transportation. It is easier for Skyrim to thrive on the West bank of the Karth river than it is for High Rock to defend it. There is an almost impassible mountain range between Karth and Iliac Bay, while the Nords could just build a bridge. Also, Solitude makes complete sense to be Skyrim's capital because it's on a peninsular cliff next to a fucking bay, and bays are well known to be the perfect place for a port. And without a port your country loses most of its trade. Not to mention a place to garrison your navy. Windhelm is located on a smaller river delta and does not sit on a well defensible cliff, nor is it on a peninsula. Windhelm is like Rome while Solitude is Constantinople. It's also the same reasons why the capital of the U.S. is on one of its coasts and not located smack dab in the middle of Kansas. There's more I could say but overall there is no problem with Skyrim.
@Stoneworks3 жыл бұрын
I'm working on a logistics/geography video like that right now so stay tuned
@rb987693 жыл бұрын
Yeah, the borders seem perfectly good to me in terms of geopolitics/logistics. I think they even overdid it with the geographical barriers making it too defensive probably to avoid invisible walls. I think Stoneworks was looking into it more in a sense of aesthetics though.
@Stoneworks4 жыл бұрын
Tell me if you're a glorious imperial or a virgin stormcloak Also- join the discord for worldbuilding and life advice from your internet grandfathers: discord.gg/bncqFy5
@gone412144 жыл бұрын
what you think of this video and if you're a glorious imperial or a virgin stormcloak
@Psychomaniac144 жыл бұрын
what you think of this video and if you're a glorious imperial or a virgin stormcloak
@lostluggage994 жыл бұрын
I think this video is about Skyrim's map. I'm not a glorious imperial or a virgin stormcloak
@rexhex37004 жыл бұрын
what you think of this video and if you're a glorious imperial or a virgin stormcloak
@whyismyricewet19864 жыл бұрын
finally, I missed you
@branditz6134 жыл бұрын
A video on Morrowind to be interesting. Morrowind is so weird and different, I want to know what your take is on it.
@donniedewitt98784 жыл бұрын
Morrowind is probably one of the most unique fantasy settings ever
@ATurnip4 жыл бұрын
One thing that made Morrowind really unique was it's architecture. It was the first time I saw a fantasy setting with buildings made of giant mushrooms and giant crabs anyway.
@goolabbolshevish1t6514 жыл бұрын
@@donniedewitt9878 it's the byproduct of a week long acid and writing binge by the lore and story director they had at the time. He had the philosophy of going for strange, edgy and crazy. Sadly Emil pagilo their lead writer as of oblivion and lead creative director as of skyrim has the philosophy of keep it simple stupid because the audience is simple. (Look up his Ted talk, he actually said this)
@genghisn72 ай бұрын
@@goolabbolshevish1t651 Michael Kirkbride did not use drugs to come up with Morrowind, that's a community joke that people took as a fact.
@Dell-ol6hb4 жыл бұрын
“My ancestors smile upon me imperial, can you say the same?”
@emorynguyen15834 жыл бұрын
*Chop*
@gabfar43284 жыл бұрын
@@binarekoharijanto4586 "The Empire I Knew Never Surrendered!"
@Nethan20004 жыл бұрын
High Elf: "I doubt you even know most of your ancestors"
@enderman_6663 жыл бұрын
@@Nethan2000 I doubt any living soul knows most of their ancestors, what the fuck kinda criteria is this?
@Nethan20003 жыл бұрын
@@enderman_666 You underestimate the autism of High Elves, who can trace their ancestry right back to Auriel.
@StarlasAiko4 жыл бұрын
Your main concerns seem to be aesthetics....I am sure, the people living there cared more about defensible borders and availability of resources...
@megastormy4973 жыл бұрын
Kilravok it's from an out of character and game design perspective you n'wah
@wanderingrandomer3 жыл бұрын
I mean, it is a fantasy map for a piece of media, so art and aesthetic play a big role
@StarlasAiko3 жыл бұрын
Immersion is just as important, and for that you need believability
@wanderingrandomer3 жыл бұрын
@@StarlasAiko I get that, but most players of the Elder Scrolls are not gonna notice or care if a mountain range is in slightly the wrong place. It's s OK to take liberties once in a while.
@thepopulationofkazakhstan1116 Жыл бұрын
@@StarlasAiko and real borders don't care about how appealing they are, as long as it benefits the country it's good
@leavemealone9304 жыл бұрын
The people that designed the Skyrim map: "Oh shit yeah bro you figured it out ha ha ha ha..."
@jacopoabbruscato92714 жыл бұрын
"Yeah we DEFINITELY thought about all this stuff, nice catch bro"
@goolabbolshevish1t6514 жыл бұрын
Which time, the original skyrim from elder scrolls 1 had allot more farm lands and much of the West was among them as well as more variation in its map.
@zillva11 ай бұрын
Even if it wasn't a primary thought, that doesn't mean it still can't apply to your works. This entire video is basically why it looks good and natural, which is a cool idea for a video imo
@joshuapurdy70653 жыл бұрын
This guy managed to say sentences that make sense in the English language but at the same time say literally nothing at all for 15 minutes
@theanonymousmrgrape59114 жыл бұрын
I think it makes plenty of sense for Solitude to be the imperial capital in the civil war. Obviously it’s not what they would choose if they were naming a capital at that time, but Solitude in the lore was the historic capital of Skyrim, and the locus of power had been there for centuries. It never mattered before because there was no Aldmeri dominion to contest it. In order for that not to be the capital, the Empire would have to change the royal residence of the monarchy of Skyrim and additionally move the entire government South. Also Solitude seems to be the most well defended settlement and one of the most loyal to the Empire. There isn’t much reason other than potential pressure from the Aldmeri Dominion for them to move the capital, and it’s not remotely clear the Aldmeri Dominion wouldn’t want them to be able to keep their armies supplied.
@alextrollip77074 жыл бұрын
Aldmeri dominion were backing the imperials at that point. So they would want the imperials enforced? Im pretty sure they wanted the imperials to win in the long haul but just not too fast for it to be a clean victory.
@dantecaputo26294 жыл бұрын
Alex Trollip I would think they wanted a Stormcloak victory. Divide and conquer after all.
@Ch35h1r3C474 жыл бұрын
@@dantecaputo2629 I think it's said in some of their reports that what they REALLY want, is to just keep the war going, as it is weakening both the Nords and the Empire, but if it has to end, then the Empire losing would be best for them.
@vegetableman39114 жыл бұрын
It’s also much harder to conquer for the elves. Protected by marshes, mountains, rivers, other cities, plus the people would be higher and have an easier time of defending using spells or catapults
@krim73 жыл бұрын
@@Ch35h1r3C47 The Empire winning but there being a large amount of lingering resentment to Imperial Rule within the population is equally as good. That resentment could be harnessed and fomented into open rebellion whenever it is convenient for the Elves.
@pastorofmuppets45523 жыл бұрын
“I’m not saying this part should be owned by Morrowind” You N’wah!
@kushalsb4604 жыл бұрын
wtf is this, maps dont form due to visual aesthetic, they form due to geopolitics.
@nerobernardino884 жыл бұрын
Yeah, the US-Canada border is one good demonstration of that.
@HughMansonMD4 жыл бұрын
Yeah but if you're world building a fictional place, it certainly doesnt hurt to have it aesthetically pleasing. I also feel like most of his aesthetic criticisms are there to prevent people from making the "potato/blob" countries and to realize that most countries do have some sort of direction or movement to them. This doubles as realism though, because most countries dont take shape of the potato blob because it would: 1) have to be coincidental, 2) natural borders that help make nation borders arent usually coincidentally "circular" and have direction, and 3) the people who occupy these lands have direction, movement, and ambition themselves, and that's rarely an equal "circular" spread in all directions.
@sullivanlaramie29013 жыл бұрын
Among said geopolitics are: This river and this mountain range are easier to defend than this open plane. There's a reason Italy's borders are almost entirely coastline, ridge-line, and valley. But this is like that old: "Nearly every major river flows to a lake, sea, or ocean." "No, they flow downhill." argument. In world building, frankly the only reasons geological features exist are aesthetics and 'the world needs to make sense' - for those who know what they're doing. Geopolitics flow with compromise and "I can see a physical border" is a historically decent compromise.
@choronos3 жыл бұрын
@@HughMansonMD Well, I don't buy any of that. How is France not a potato blob country? Where is the movement in Poland? Bulgaria? Romania? Chad? Algeria? The Congo? Botswana? I don't mean to insult, but aesthetics applied to national borders is a bunch of wishy washy crap.
@HughMansonMD3 жыл бұрын
@@choronos yes, but they aren't very aesthetically interesting countries now are they? And believe me, I'm not trying to be a dick either, but if you arent willing to take artistic integrity into something as simple and mundane as map borders, all because of realism, then what's the point of even making a fictional world in the first place? Like if you're going to knitpick the practicality of borders, then I imagine things like magic systems will crumble apart rather quickly under a critical lens, as will everything in whatever hypothetical fictional world we're talking about. Not to mention the fact that for every example of a "potato" country someone can give, there is like 5 countries with very distinctive traits and directions that are result of all the practical things mentioned in this video. But just speaking in a creative sense, and to put it another way - imagine if you're writing a serious drama/high fantasy book with magic in it, and you wanted to have one character burn another character to death. You have total artistic freedom on how you do that. You could: have him concentrate ebb flow into a ball of fire that is thrown from his hands. You could have him open a portal to the Fire-scape where the 2nd ones reach their charred hands upward to tear the literal soul out the other man, and incinerate it while this, now humanity-less, shell of a body falls to the ground, unleashing mammalian shrieks before turning to ash. Or you could have him magically produce and bury his opponent in a powerful stream of freshly made, and still very hot, baked potatoes... you have full artistic freedom, but different approaches have different results. You can make a whole map of blob countries that are all shaped by very strenuous amounts of geopolitical lore, that have to conveniently shape all the countries like that, but it will be boring, unmemorable, and confusing. Edit: also, all of those countries you mentioned still have some measurable amount of direction within their shapes: Poland \\ or \l, Bulgaria =, Romania _\, Chad \l or ), Algeria \/, Congo \l, Botswana l> or \> France is the most blob-like and I can still see a ")( "or ")/" in it.
@killthecensors584 жыл бұрын
Dang. You don't seem to know very much about historical nation-building. Dude, rivers generally don't make borders. Mountain ranges do. Virtually all civilizations of any note exist along rivers. It's just obvious, mate. These centers of civilization or regions expand their influence outward until they reach a geographic boundary. Usually a mountain range or forest. The only times that real world nations demarcate their borders along major rivers is when these rivers are so far away from the center of power that it is irrelevant. But in Skyrim, every hold is situated along a river/water source. And their influence extends until it reaches a geographic boundary. Skyrim's team did more research than you did, buddy.
@secretarias25044 жыл бұрын
Historically rivers were both used as an interior agricultural center and a defensive border depending on the river in question as not all of them provided fertile agriculture and ease of travel like the Nile. The Danube was a defensive border for the Romans, but it was also used for fishing and travel.
@cornycontent19154 жыл бұрын
Damn you really had to be so snotty about it?
@RedFloyd4694 жыл бұрын
And I think you missed the point of this video entirely. I'm not even sure how you could miss that. The rivers don't refer to political borders. They are visual clues for the player to create aesthetic borders in their minds. Also, he DID say that the mountains make for natural borders. Everybody knows that rivers mark trade routes, not genuine borders. The player instinctively forms shapes in their heads when looking at fantasy maps. Developers understand this and use it to mark locations, regardless of whether these locations could be realistically formed in real life, through political actions. This was the entire point of this video. It's literally praising the map design. Fantasy maps would be a whole lot more boring if they followed your logic to a T. The map designers indeed did their research, but not because they chose realistic borders, it's because they understood how game design works.
@minerbean4 жыл бұрын
This dude's just drawing random lines on a map and calling it a "skeleton" lmao the reason the structure is "ambiguous" is because it's some nonsense you made up
@rb987693 жыл бұрын
Yeah, I think the map is pretty believable by itself, many of his possible changes seem a bit arbitrary and more focused on a sense of aesthetics. Solitude is a very powerful Nord city, so I don't see why it's a problem that they project that influence through the peninsula in the north. I don't see the issue with Skyrim owning the riften region either.
@romarbetc1233 жыл бұрын
Its called shape language and its a design principle.
@TheZapan994 жыл бұрын
2:14 " So here's really the shape of Skyrim, and now you can notice that the shape isn't really of anything." Belgium: "Am I a joke to you?"
@Stoneworks4 жыл бұрын
TheZapan99 I always thought Belgium looked like a humpbacked guy squatting a poop out
@TheZapan994 жыл бұрын
@@Stoneworks Belgians themselves like to call it the Brain that sits atop France.
@iopklmification4 жыл бұрын
Well, Belgium is a fantasy country as much as Skyrim, except uglier.
@TheZapan994 жыл бұрын
@@iopklmification And like Skyrim, it is torn between two factions, one of which also rooting for an evil bureacratic empire.
@florbengorben76514 жыл бұрын
I thought it always looked like Venezuela, compare the western coastline and tell me I'm wrong
@bakubread93082 ай бұрын
listening to you talk about country shapes having "flow" and being shaped "well" is so interesting to me as a history major. like my immediate reaction is "what are you talking about? borders dont form based on what looks pleasant!" and then I remember that its a fantasy map drawn specifically TO look good
@reeven17214 жыл бұрын
7:36 So glad that you mention that geographically, it looks like the Reach and Haafingar should be part of High Rock... Because they absolutely should. The Reachmen are Bretons. The Nords just took the land in the days of Tiber Septim. Also, if you look at Solitude, the architecture is distinctly Breton compared to the rest of Skyrim.
@bestkill68884 жыл бұрын
Nope, The Nords built Solitude.
@capsandnumbers4 жыл бұрын
@@bestkill6888 Nordic propaganda
@bestkill68884 жыл бұрын
@@capsandnumbers Nope
@CubicApocalypse1284 жыл бұрын
Solitude looks more Cyrodiilic than Breton.
@niranox80823 жыл бұрын
Solitude and Haafingar have been Nordic for thousands of years, and were likely built by early Atmoran settlers. And the Reach was conquered by Olaf One-Eye.
@Akranejames4 жыл бұрын
To me, Solitude always sounded like the "Foward Base" of the Empire, like a central point to use to keep dominion over the Northern Region and have a port city there. Sounds far from the lore reason though. Also, just noticed Windhelm makes WAY more sense as a port/trading city than Solitude.
@ethanblevins11164 жыл бұрын
Don’t forget Solitude is the provincial capital
@DinkyWaffle4 жыл бұрын
@@ethanblevins1116 that's for now. The High King hasn't always been from Solitude. Windhelm and WInterhold used to be the capital.
@treeaboo4 жыл бұрын
Which is why Windhelm and Winterhold have historically been capital cities, and why Windhelm is also a major port (there's an East Empire Company building in Windhelm and a questline), Dawnstar is also a major port in lore. Also Stoneworks completely forgot that Anvil exists and that most of the Imperial shipments from Cyrodiil to Solitude go via Anvil rather than the Imperial City itself, meaning ships don't have to pass through Dominion territory. Also Hammerfell doesn't hate the Empire, but rather are neutral towards them now that they have their freedom.
@iordanchis24374 жыл бұрын
This is one big reason I love KZfaq. I get to watch 20 minutes of highly nerdy high-Quality analysis of the map, of a country, from a fantasy RPG (I love BTW) and learn interesting things that make me see things from the real world in a different light. You sir are amazing! Great job. I love your fascination of worldbuilding. Truly great content! I've enjoyed it all the way to the end.
@thoruszwolf41534 жыл бұрын
Yeah, you hear all these tales of Nords who made their living sailing the rivers of Skyrim, even the companions who sailed up the river from the sea and came upon the Skyforge where they decided to convert their ship into Jorvaskr... how the hack did they sail a ship the size of Jorvaskr up the narrow and shallow White River, even if it didn't have the waterfalls? ... I believe that the Land we see is a very small representation of its size in Lore, and certain aspects were likely exaggerated to make the land seem more dramatic
@GremlinSciences4 жыл бұрын
Or, those tales being so ancient, tell of different geography. Any river will have a tendency to change course if obstructed, especially if that river flows through plains. I don't think those tales specify that is was the White river either, there is a branch of the Karth river that flows most of the way to Whiterun. By the way, having been based on the Vikings, their boats probably didn't need that much depth to sail in. Also, it's entirely possible they actually carried the boat a fair distance after bringing it ashore.
@uwotm81534 жыл бұрын
catboy357 most likely is that the Skyrim devs didn’t care about the world enough. Morrowind had bigger cities and it came out like 8 years before Skyrim.
@TripleBarrel063 жыл бұрын
@@uwotm8153 it also looks like ass in comparison. If I was given the option of making a morrowind quality city or a skyrim quality city I'd pick morrowind because the longest part of making a morrowind city is typing all the dialogue, everything else can be done in a week tops.
@BlueGamingRage4 жыл бұрын
13:30 this is even funnier because your character is caught on a road between cyrodil and skyrim
@SporeMurph4 жыл бұрын
This was frankly rubbish. All this stuff about the look and "motion" of the map is just nonsense. There is no realistic geographic analysis here.
@liamcullen30354 жыл бұрын
@Spore Murph - I think the point of this video was the design aesthetics, not the geographic realism. If you think that’s rubbish, fine, but I liked it 😉
@alextrollip77074 жыл бұрын
I gotta say, I liked the idea. But I didn't get alot. Especially the start. He started drawing odd shapes and saying he liked this. Oh this country shape isn't interesting. I didn't get it at all, there was really no explanation. Then some of his rants didn't make sense like solitude when there's literal hundreds of years of solitude being a capital. He says fix pale pass. But before aldmeri dominion (very recently) came into power, there was no reason to move solitude as high king position. Nor take a more dangerous route for cargo. Pale pass probably had tons of dwemer ruins. So now aldmeri dominion became powerful, so either imperial has to use anvil, run through the AD waters or pale pass. But they're so weak, I doubt they have the time or resources for clearing a dangerous mountain pass.
@GuruThesla4 жыл бұрын
@@liamcullen3035 dude, you're not wrong, but his video has "worldbuilding" in the title. If it was map design or level design, i would give it a pass, bit this is just misleading.
@LautaroArgentino4 жыл бұрын
@@GuruThesla it's just the worldbuilding style. Why should fictional worlds stick to our "realistic" rules?
@l0remipsum9914 жыл бұрын
@@LautaroArgentino Because fantasy need some logical sense too. Or else a landmass will just look like Falskaar.
@hallamhal4 жыл бұрын
Skyrim to me always looked like Iceland but with land borders
@generalping9994 жыл бұрын
It also looks like Ireland but rotated
@10hawell4 жыл бұрын
Skyrim has shape very similar to borders of Poland during Boleslaw I The Brave reign. For most of the history the rivers did not divide, they connected, the more sense is that the river passes through the center of the region because the region was probably formed in the basin of this river and all those waterfalls are not problem because they're really far from one another taking the size of world in lore and even if rivers are not navigable all the roads would be build along them .
@lukasjhdewaal82124 жыл бұрын
You should have attended the Berlin Conference in 1884 and just ranted at those leaders for drawing all the weird and straight lines
@zillva11 ай бұрын
Most world borders were formed like this though. Based on mountains and rivers which were harder to cross than anywhere else. The US is an EXTREMELY new country, and can't be used as a basis for any sort of medieval worldbuilding, unless you use the natives (and maybe some vikings)
@vincentandre85004 жыл бұрын
There is ingame lore that Pale Pass has been blocked off due to an avalanche and the Empire is simply waiting until summer when the snow melts to bring in a proper army to crush the Stormcloaks. The Imperial Legion that you see in the game is mostly just militia and that's why general Tullius was sent to lead them, as the Empire viewed him as being capable of using the local resources to buy time until the Empire could truly start fighting. The Empire never expected the current forces to win the war, much less to lose. Solitude is the Empire's main hold as that's where General Tullius entered Skyrim (on boat) because Pale Pass was blocked off. Also I think they sometimes go around Blackmarsh to avoid the elves. It's partially explained in the "Imperial Missive" if you're interested. This technically means that no matter which side the dragonborn sides with, the Empire ends up winning as soon as the snow melts. elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Pale_Pass#cite_note-1
@vladprus40194 жыл бұрын
Aldmeri Dominon is wanting Skyrim to split up. Stormcloaks are stupid. Oh, I see you're man of culture as well.
@thinkingmachine3544 жыл бұрын
Vlad Prus The stormcloaks knew this. Why let them live on their land at let the empire take everything they love away. If the stormcloaks didn’t resist, the outcome of them would be their enslavement by the elves. Under the stormcloak banner they were united with a majority, especially when they win.
@loreknight56124 жыл бұрын
@@thinkingmachine354 except thats not true. The Empire is the only thing preventing the thalmor from having any more presence than they already have. Ulfric himself is unwittingly assisting the thalmor by further drawing the empire into a war that drains its resources and support. He also completely fails to target the thalmor, and focuses on fighting the empire. The stormcloaks alone simply wouldn't be able to take on the thalmor, even if they weren't dividing and draining themselves by attacking the empire. Stormcloaks have heart and imperial training, but they don't have numbers, magic, or high quality gear, while the thalmor have all of that and more, especially since they've spent 30 years rebuilding after the Great War. The best chance for taking on the thalmor is taking the hit of "no talos worship" (which is effectively "no public talos worship" until ulfric stirred up a storm and drew the thalmor's attention, who had previously done little to prosecute private talos worship) and assisting the empire in rebuilding, and joining up in arms alongside them once again when the empire is ready. Not a guaranteed win, but much better luck than the stormcloaks would have alone (not to mention how cutting off from the empire could hurt skyrim's economy)
@thinkingmachine3544 жыл бұрын
Lore knight it’s funny that from your point of view, you value comfortable enslavement over brutal freedom. The nords should be free to do what they please in their own homeland. It’s that simple. And if it means death and hardship then so be it.
@pardalmadgod99604 жыл бұрын
@@thinkingmachine354 He values survival, you know, like any sane sentient being? Besides all ulfric had to do was LITTERALLY ASK the king to declare independence and hed do it, but no lets cause a civil war because, SkiRIm belOngs TOo The norDS. Any king/warchief/wtv that ignores the survival of the kingdom in his care is no leader.
@thinkingmachine3544 жыл бұрын
Pardal madgod whether he could have asked is besides the point. The point is about Nordic freedom in the Nordic homeland.
@richardbrand25054 жыл бұрын
I think Solitude has more imperial influence also because of it's proximity and ties to High Rock. And the other imperial holds in skyrim are such aligned because they have economic ties to Solitude and direct trade routes to Cyrodiil. Also about the Pale Pass, there's a note in game at a fort somewhere near there that states it's avalanched over at the time of tes5. But they are apparently massing a legion on the cyrodiilic side, so they should definitely have some engineers to clear it had they not already. Also really nice video bræh
@Kathkere4 жыл бұрын
Wayne Gretzky, the famous world building guru. I have long waited for you to use one of his majestic quotes.
@jaernihiltheus78173 жыл бұрын
To defend high rock a bit: About that mountain chain, keep in mind skyrim's boarders changed a lot over the years. At one point the proto high rock borders (when it was direnni owned) was high rock + all of the reach + (and i quote) "most of skyrim and hammerfell". Also terrain retcons are very much a thing in tes. Originally, there were the dragon tooth mountians that cuts through eastern high rock through eastern hammerfell, western cyrodiil, and down to northern valenwood. As an example
@BKPrice3 ай бұрын
Also, keep in mind elevations. The Rift has its borders because it's high up above Eastmarch, so even with the rivers flowing through there the two lands are very different. That's a big thing throughout Skyrim: differences in elevation from region to region. You only really saw that in Cyrodiil in the north. The rest was roughly the same elevation and was delineated more by rivers.
@MasterAdam1002 жыл бұрын
No, the Empire DOES use Pale Pass in lore, the developers just didn't want to program a path to Cyrodil, for obvious reasons. You got to use a little imagination instead of just using what the game gives you because it can only tell and show you so much.
@bingus6464 жыл бұрын
That entire area of that you were referring to with High Rock laying claim is more so the Reach, which was its own Kingdom at one point between High Rock and Skyrim owned by the Bretons. So yes and no.
@who_is_green18204 жыл бұрын
"The yellow are the mountains and the green are the basins" Me, a colorblind person: "oh FUCK"
@heinzgrigori46284 жыл бұрын
Maps and elder scrolls, recommendation system is working
@thinkingmachine3544 жыл бұрын
Lord Yuri I’m happy for you, you normie
@ephycs4 жыл бұрын
Skyrim reminds me of the outline of Poland. And you know what, I find Poland to have some of the most pleasant looking boarders despite the cultural challenging it faces with those same boarders.
@roadent2174 жыл бұрын
Ehh... I dunno. To me it just looks like an artificial, uninspired shapeless blob. It even has an almost straight border with Kaliningrad Oblast - it seems Stalin took some inspiration from the western colonialist powers in this regard. Now, Interwar Poland, on the other hand...
@Damo26904 жыл бұрын
Modern Poland's borders are like 70% artificial
@GaiusCaligula2344 жыл бұрын
@@Damo2690 Not really, they are based on rivers and the old outline of Poland
@thepopulationofkazakhstan1116 Жыл бұрын
@@Damo2690 only the Kaliningrad and Belarus are mostly artificial, to the west there is the Neisser and Oder river, Czechia and Slovakia have the Carpathians, and Ukraine's borders mostly follow Ethnicity but a bit simpler
@ChristianEater914 жыл бұрын
Morrowind > All other peasant nations
@Himmyjewett4 жыл бұрын
Random big volcano enters the chat
@clintonbyers9304 жыл бұрын
daggerfall enters the chat
@l0remipsum9914 жыл бұрын
False gods have left the chat
@julienguelton27864 жыл бұрын
It's hype as fuck that you still find the time to release these. Your biggest fan, keep up the good work
@Stoneworks4 жыл бұрын
yo shoutout
@ArturoLopez-ly2pn4 жыл бұрын
It's 2 in the morning, I have insomnia, and KZfaq recommended me a video of a guy putting bones in Skyrim's map
@Stoneworks4 жыл бұрын
it's two in the morning and I'm putting bones on Japan
@LordMangudai4 жыл бұрын
I always thought Skyrim was missing a river. Like, there's just way too much empty space between the White River and Karth River systems. If you look at the topography of the map then there's clearly a third drainage area that extends south from Dawnstar, but it doesn't have a stream in it. I think the game should have added a stream flowing north through The Pale and emptying into the bay at Dawnstar. Then again Skyrim also has some pretty inexplicable endorheic basins (Falkreath, why are you in a hole?) and a stream that flows out of Lake Ilinalta when it really should be flowing into it so methinks they didn't quite understand how rivers work. Don't even get me started on the random streams that start and then stop after about 100 meters.
@guy-s4 жыл бұрын
This video is honestly just rambly nonsense, please no more videos like this
@mv21734 жыл бұрын
I, for one, loved this style. But to each their own ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@guy-s4 жыл бұрын
@@mv2173 How dare you have an opinion take that back
@mv21734 жыл бұрын
@@guy-s I apologies profusely. It won't happen again.
@hircineshunter58968 ай бұрын
Whiterun: Trade within Skyrim Solitude: Exports other provinces via ships Windhelm: Exports to Morrowind. And Black Marsh via sea Also Morthal has to port at Solitude or Windhelm to export to Tamriel via sea.
@mondocool567010 ай бұрын
The lore reason why Solitude is the Imperial HQ is because it's both the Capital of Skyrim and where the High King resides. Being that Skyrim is a province of the Empire and the High King cooperates closely with Imperials, it makes sense they would have a strong presence there. I do think it's interesting to note that the start of the Dragonborn's journey is in Helgen and the Imperials have a developed military outpost there right until the dragon attack.
@romulusnuma1164 жыл бұрын
I have learned that the aesthetics of maps is important
@langfordmorrow1774 жыл бұрын
This is my favorite style of your videos, I still appreciate the scripted / highly edited feel of the others but this casual style is great.
@bricknolty5478 Жыл бұрын
12:25 There's a small line of dialogue that actually explains that the mountain pass from Falkreath to Bruma is impassable due to a rock slide/avalanche. Tulius is the Emperor's best General, and was sent to the Capital of Skyrim to muster the Imperial forces already stationed there. He's merely buying time while the main Imperial force clears the mountain pass and marches north.
@CanisMythson3 жыл бұрын
In response to the border feeling in a weird place between High Rock and Skyrim: It's not just visual. They worked that into the worldbuilding; that region was conquered during the last years of the 2nd era, and the Forsworn in the area are the native Bretons who wish to reclaim their rightful land. It's not just an interesting thing on the map; it plays into major historical events.
@Ellimist0004 жыл бұрын
Why doesn't the empire go through the pale pass? I think that's what Helgen was for...
@alextrollip77074 жыл бұрын
Emphasis on was🤣
@storyspren4 жыл бұрын
The subconscious compartmentalizing of the map into areas really works and even overpowers the Hold borders to some extent. When I cross the White River, it feels like I've left Whiterun. And further north, that road works as the border in my mind so that Lake Yorgrim is Eastmarch to me. Rorikstead on the other hand feels like a border town. The border between Whiterun and The Pale is also very blurry (in my mind, not the map). The Rift is definitely my favorite, always has been but this analysis really cements its position further. It feels like its own little nook when you look at the mountains and lakes, Shor's Stone is like a little border town and Ivarstead is like a little Satellite Riften. And no waterfals in the Treva (only river in the whole country like that) means that water transport works in The Rift.
@AssortedFern2 ай бұрын
The map drawing you did reminded me of a good JIPOE (Joint intelligence preparation of the environment) map, showing major terrain features and how they affect the battlespace. It's the first step in preparing for a conflict, and i think you did a rather good job there.
@renaigh3 ай бұрын
Rifton is geopolitically a part of Skyrim but culturally it's Morrowind, the centerpiece is even an establishment owned by a couple of Argonians who were more than likely born there. Not to mention the Dunmer population that isn't just refugees. The only population of Nords from the city are all cops there to protect the ruling family, the rest are either business owners from out of town or the blacksmith who arms said cops.
@PortaTerzo4 жыл бұрын
I thought Skyrim's shape was boring before and after watching the video, I also think it looks better without High Rock- and Morrowind parts.
@jonseilim43214 жыл бұрын
Feels like most of this is opinions walked back to reason, rather than good design principles informing opinion.
@Spacefrisian4 жыл бұрын
Palepass was covered by a recent landslide, this tiny bit is discovered during the civil war questline when you take Fort Neugrad (or something) It also tells that general Tulius doesnt have a proper legion cause its busy clearing the pass.
@quantum_ogre4 жыл бұрын
Regarding the Cyrodiilic Sea Travel: An important thing to note is where the Imperial Legion is concerned, most of their strength is drawn from Colovia ( the region that comprises Anvil, Kvatch, Skingrad, and Chorrol). It is far more likely that military launches their craft out of Anvil, which would allow them to hug the Hammerfell Coast ( which isn't hostile to The Empire, just neutral) and swing up towards High Rock ports and later Solitude. They would still be close to the Dominion, but those ships are likely keeping their distance from the Redguards ( who ARE hostile to the Dominion).
@TheAiskie4 жыл бұрын
ugh. I don't really like Tamriel as a whole, geographically speaking. It just feels fake af.
@dminard14 жыл бұрын
My thought exactly. It has feature that you would never see in real life put together awkwardly.
@errantvice73354 жыл бұрын
The reason a lot of people don’t like Tamriel is the scaling, if we go off daggerfall (TES 2) scaling the entirety of Tamriel’s biomes would make more sense given the iliac bay region is supposed to be the size of Great Britain. Based off modern Morrowind/Skyrim/Oblivion scaling, I can see why people dislike it
@flameoguy4 жыл бұрын
Nobody: Stoneworks: the Skyrim map is thicc
@sidonie6Gamer3 жыл бұрын
I might add that there is a significant altitude difference between the Whiterun basin and East March that is not shown on the maps but are in-game making the regions very different and have an obvious border in-game. Same between The Rift and Eastmarch
@Ocean_Gaming4 жыл бұрын
Can you make one for the Tamriel please? Because Skyrim is part of it.
@nebulouscat22104 жыл бұрын
Skyrim sounds like my friends. They get high, then they dip.
@NamelessKing15974 жыл бұрын
13:20 They're working on clearing it, it collapsed, that's what they used to do. That's why Whiterun became a trade hub, also in arena Falkreath was part of Cyrodiil. Also the best route isn't down the river and around the dominion, Hammerfell and Highrock, you can avoid the dominion by trading out of Anvil and Hammerfell won't mind, they're still *allies* of the Empire, they may even rent out their warships for extra protection.
@Werrf13 жыл бұрын
The Pale Pass is normally a major transport route from the Empire to Skyrim, but the destruction of Helgen and a series of avalanches have "all but closed" that route. The Empire is not technically at war with the Aldmeri Dominion at present, though they are very much getting ready for a war; thus ships can navigate past the Summerset Isles in relative safety. It's also possible to transport cargo a LOT more efficiently by sea than overland in a pre-industrial society; heck, even today with internal combustion engines, 90% of world trade is carried by sea. Solitude is a fantastic port for Skyrim. It's ice-free (for some reason), with a wide, sheltered inlet that makes a perfect natural harbour. Windhelm, meanwhile, is icebound throughout the game, and while we do see a number of trade ships there, we also find a lot of wrecks just off shore. So the layout makes a lot of sense - Whiterun is the first big town one comes to after passing through the mountains, so overland trade stops there; Solitude is the best harbour in the province, so most sea trade goes there; and Windhelm is an accessible-but-risky port, so some sea trade goes there. Of course, realistically there should be a lot more river traffic. Smaller settlements would exist around waterfalls with jetties to unload river vessels and portage the cargo around the waterfall. Still, I can live with that unrealistic detail.
@landdrinmc31853 жыл бұрын
Hammerfell doesn’t hate the empire
@worldbuildingjuice4 жыл бұрын
This is satire, right? I can't see how you're being serious
@team_ribs3 жыл бұрын
The other lore reason could be that it is a good defence because as you said the thalmor have solitude on the front lines and against any races trying to invade from on sea if they land in skyrim they can form a war to stop them without it reaching cyrodil
@17Haru17 Жыл бұрын
On water travel, we know Riften/Lake Honrich used to be a big trade hub so they’re getting around those waterfalls somehow. Some vikings used to drag their boats onto shore and carry them around waterfalls. But anyway, the issue with Dominion territorial waters is why I think the Imperials sail east around Morrowind to reach Solitude. We know they established and maintained Fort Frostmouth on Solstheim for hundreds of years, so presumably the Sea of Ghosts is navigable unless you sail north toward Old Atmora. But also, both from the game world and sea’s name we know sea ice and storms sink a lot of vessels.
@willowchair4 жыл бұрын
I came in here expecting you to not be very knowledgable on Elder Scrolls lore but you completely proved me wrong.
@justcallmejudge4 жыл бұрын
I hope there are gonna be jokes to as how High Rock sucks in future videos. Or is it already has?
@yuyaricachimuel5554 жыл бұрын
With your talk of how interesting the Western border of Skyrim is with the river and all, it just reminds me of how different, and therefore awesome, the Reach feels compared to the other holds of Skyrim. :3
@cyqry11 ай бұрын
One interesting thing for consideration about all the waterfalls on the rivers; you said earlier on in the video that the Imperials are based on Rome and of course the Romans had a lot of big civil construction works done... one pretty notable one being aqueducts for transporting water. The UK has a huge canal network, large portions of it are based on existing rivers but we do have SOME canals based on aqueducts when trying to transport boats over valleys. Bare in mind that initially the canal network was meant for transporting things, competing at the same time with the rail network (rails existed before trains did as they simply pulled the carts along with horses, just like canal boats were pulled along with horses on the tow-path). Aside from aqueducts, the canal network also uses locks which allow two sections of the network to be on different elevations, and they don't use that advanced technology to be honest, its simply two gates that can be shut and water is then drained into/out of that middle section to raise/lower the water level to match the next part of the network. Its hard to say for a fantasy game exactly what level of technology they are at, especially when you start throwing in things like magic, but given we have Dwemer technology being somewhat similar to industrial revolution era technology (lots of steam-power and machinery), I don't think that having a canal lock here and there is too out of the question. The waterfalls in the game aren't always the biggest and could easily be overcome with a few innovative applications of Dwemer technology.
@thehalberdier47744 жыл бұрын
You're talking about ***bulges*** a lot. You dog whistling to furries, bro?
@Stoneworks4 жыл бұрын
I only dog whistle to the Furies
@thehalberdier47744 жыл бұрын
@@Stoneworks Next thing we know you'll be doing a video on Elsweyr!
@dashiellgillingham45794 жыл бұрын
I cannot play the stormcloak side of the civil war unmodded just because of how much the mountain pass issue bothers me. Pale pass and the unnamed one in southern Falkreath should be *the* reinforcement points for the legion, followed up by Solitude (with its exclusive land and sea access to High Rock). The road through that bandit camp east of Dragon’s Bridge is so critical to all movement through the western region that even a basic patrolling soldiers mod will clear it on a daily basis. That it has a bandit camp on it is so frustrating I have never stopped my quest to find a way to replace it with an inhabited fort since I first plugged in the game... what, 7 years ago now? Also, the resistance camps need to be reorganized for my sanity. I let the stormcloak camps in the Reach, Falkreath, Morthal and Whiterun stay, but I have my game spawn extra camps in each of the stormcloak territories. The legions gets camps in all their held territories but none in stormcloak land unless it’s the next quest location, but get extra strength road patrols. It just... I can’t play the game and fail to notice that unless I have mods to make it work that way.
@Palafico33 жыл бұрын
You also have to realise that the planet of Elder Scrolls is literally built from the corpses of gods on myth and magic. A dev once said "it wasn't formed with tectonic plates and march of the penguins." This place doesn't run on the same laws we experience in the real world by any means, it started off as an amorphous magic mess and only had any semblance of form because the gods decided to become the laws of nature. Things like climate, geography, and nature are basically spiritual in function, not scientific.
@damianblu3 жыл бұрын
There’s a book in the game called Holds of Skyrim which explains that Falkreath is extremely useful for importing supplies and goods from the empire.
@jordancabe7324 жыл бұрын
"Also it looks like a pig," killed me XD
@TheShubLub4 жыл бұрын
I downloaded and stopped watching because your thumbnail implied that you are critiquing the Skyrim map. But when I got here there's no critiquing of the map
@loralada5552 жыл бұрын
First Rule of Mountains. A mountain never stands alone
@a.l.macdonald80714 жыл бұрын
In a note in the fort near Whiterun after the battle for Whiterun, there is a note that states that the pale pass got bodied by an avalanche. So the supply chain got rekt until they can move it and the note says that the empire is assembling a legion on the other side for when it's cleared.
@kevinleroi61364 жыл бұрын
Now I have to redo my maps? You're killing me. Also- Who joins the imperials? The people who literally just said; "He's not on the list? Eh, chop his head off anyway." I know that with precolonial/fantasy political powers, you're less likely to get linear boarders, but they do exist; typically in neutral lands with large sprawls of wilderness.
@InquisitorThomas4 жыл бұрын
I mean my first Skyrim play through I sided with the Stormcloaks for the reason you said, but now I consistently don’t pick a side in the civil war and just go for the Empire, because based on what we see in Skyrim the Stormcloaks can’t fight their way out of a paper bag, much less the full military might of the Dominion. Also it helps the Imperials that siding with the Stormcloaks forces you to side against Balgruf who’s one of the more likable Jarls in the game.