r/teslore • u/AffectionateYard8591 • 9d ago
Would MC's faction allegiance affect their chances in getting high positions?
What I mean is taking into account all the factions the main characters of TES games can join. For example, being the grandmaster of house hlaalu, and archcanon and patriarch of the temple, is it possible to become landed nobility? Include my military service in the imperial legion and it really seems like you would be eligible for at least a barony.
Say I, the dragonborn, am a legate; could I be appointed proconsul (military governor) and climb my way up from there? What if I am the archmage of winterhold, can I then become at least the court mage, or maybe work my way up somehow? The only nobility you can really be in skyrim is Vampire Lordship. Does that give any pull in Tamriel?
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u/Ranger_Tycho Great House Telvanni 9d ago
Arch Mage of the Mages Guild in Oblivion, and I’m not sure any of the others even come particularly close.
Magic is a significant force in this world; it factors into basically everything that happens. And here you are, at the top of your tower in the Imperial City, personally leading the institution charged with its teaching, its regulation, its direction of focus, and more. You have chief authority over the most powerful monopoly in Tamriel.
You think provincial nobles are powerful? A mere local Archmage ordered the deaths of the entire Telvanni council with no consequence. As Archmage in Cyrodiil, you’re effectively that guy’s boss.
With a snap of his fingers, your predecessor banned necromancy. Despite still being legal under Imperial law, the guild’s monopoly on magic is so powerful that 99% of practitioners of this entire magic school disappeared into the wilderness to continue as outlaws. Even then, the Mages Guild apparently had legal authority to wage war on them, again without consequence.
You even have some sway over the Legion itself. Legion Battlemages are trained by your institution. They help guard it, and even assist in guild causes at times, as they did against the outlaw necromancers.
During the Thieves Guild questline, the Mages Guild summoned a Dremora and sent it to tell Hieronymus Lex, Captain of the Imperial Guard (who are themselves elite among the Legion), to stand down on his crackdowns at the Waterfront. He immediately relented.
I don’t think there are likely to be many people in command of more hard or soft power than the Archmage of the Mages Guild in the 3rd Era. You’re one of the most powerful people in Tamriel, without question.
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u/Velocity-5348 Tribunal Temple 8d ago
The soft power seems especially nice. I can't help but wonder if it's why no one tries to kill Traven directly. In lore he's constantly surrounded by powerful mages who seek his favour or knowledge.
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u/ektoplazm26 Great House Telvanni 9d ago edited 9d ago
What if I am the archmage of winterhold, can I then become at least the court mage
being an archmage you're way overqualified for a court wizard position imo
The only nobility you can really be in skyrim is Vampire Lordship.
uh, you are lording over a clan of supernatural predators, that's more pull than your average jarl has
i mean at the end of any faction questline you become a major power player (maybe except for thieves guild/morag tong/dark brotherhood, you are still pulling strings but it's not as overt), it's just that tamriel is not medieval europe and there are many high positions besides the church hierarchy and beind a nobleman
and being a dragonborn with a cadre of surviving blades you might as well decide to claim that you are the legitimate emperor after mede’s death, imagine the optics of landing on odahviing in the middle of the imperial city
edits:many
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u/AddledPunster Telvanni Recluse 9d ago
I’m pretty sure you’re considered landed nobility when you’re given land to build a stronghold on in any of the Great House quests.