"And that is why I believe Tiber Septim was the cause of the majority of todays problems." Alontar said ending his latest speed run of history as taught by the Aldmeri dominion.
"Blaming a guy who has been effectively gone since shortly after the third era started is stretching things isn't it? Don't get me wrong he definitely holds some blame but not the majority." I argued.
"Perhaps but as the one who laid the foundation is it not his fault that much of it has reached this conclusion?" he asked pointedly.
"Of course not. That's like blaming the founder of a house for his descendants becoming bandits. Sure he started the house but what the ones who come after do is on them, not him. Each emperor of the Septim dynasty could have taken time to try and fix the scars the first left behind. Some DID try. But their failure to fix every one is not on Tiber Septim. His failings were his own and theirs their own." I say seriously.
"I can't deny that. But it was the existence of those scars to begin with that festered into what we have today." he said not letting it go.
"And I can't deny that. All i'm saying is after the man being gone so long the blame for todays problems have to settle on the shoulders of todays people." I said with a shrug.
"Agree to disagree. It's only the races of man that glorify that man so much." he said with a huff.
"Oh no he was a right bastard sometimes. Like when he walked the Numidium to Summerset to not so nicely ask the dominion to bend the knee. It would have been one thing if he had won that right through negotiation or proper conquest but he basically just showed up with a walking god and made it clear he wasn't asking." I said casually.
"Yes and then there's his ascension. I'm not saying it didn't happen, just that he didn't deserve it." he said with a disdainful expression.
"Unfortunately it's not a matter of anyone else getting a say. He fulfilled the conditions and his soul became the god Talos. The part that annoys me is that no one can agree on HOW he achieved this. He knew the thu'um and rebuilt the Numidium which are both walking ways. He also accomplished a great deal and definitely earned the way of endeavor. On top of that it was also said he had achieved CHIM. Frankly the man sounds like he was collecting paths to godhood like a library did books. And there's evidence for all of them so no one knows which actually did it." I said helplessly.
"That has been a matter of debate for a long time. Those that truly know the answer are likely few indeed. Ah but it seems we will have to cut our discussion short, the oasis is ahead." he said pointing out the relatively small area of greenery next to a pool of clear water.
"And we are alone too. Surprising." I said and meant it.
Normally this oasis served as a resting and restoring place for those that dared brave the Alik'r desert and thus should have someone here. Yet there was none and no blood or signs of battle that would explain it. I was immediately suspicious that there was something wrong and stopped us well away from the oasis. I dismounted and sent my toad away before holding out my hands as I began to cast a spell. -
A white glow blossomed from my palms and pulsed out like a visible sonar wave that passed through the trees, the sand and the water before dissipating.
"Either whoever is hiding here is familiar enough with dawn magic to trick a soul search or there is genuinely no one here. i'm not sure which is worse." I said with a frown.
"That was dawn magic? I was expecting it to be more... flashy I guess?" Alontar said with a disappointed look.
I chuckled "It was just a detection spell. It's obviously not going to be all that flashy." I pointed out as I started walking towards the oasis.
If even a long lost spell could be fooled, anyone that determined to hide from us deserved to be left alone. I definitely wasn't going to carpet bomb the oasis to see if that flushed anyone out as that would be a fast way to tank my reputation. This place was a lifeline for literally everyone moving through the desert, destroying it would make me public enemy number one in Hammerfell. Not even the fucking Thalmor were willing to incur so much wrath. It was just one of those unspoken rules.-
We reached the waters edge and Alontar dismounted from his horse before letting it drink from the oasis as we set to work breaking camp. I used [shape stone] to create a decently wide flat area of stone for the fire and to set our sleeping rolls on. I took out all of it from my storage plane of course and he got to work building the fire and setting up my cooking pot rack above it. I moved on to setting up a low end barrier around us in case of ambush while we sleep. -
Honestly I was rather surprised that not more mages used it until I got to the college and figured it out. To put it simply it was too tedious. You had to mark out the shape of the barrier, create the runic channels and then use a soul gem to power the barrier. It's just a lot of work for something you'd take down the next day on the road. Still I chose caution since getting stabbed while I slept would be really annoying. Once the barrier was up with it's soft pale glow around our camp I retrieved some water from the oasis and started our dinner while the horse ate some stored oats.-
Nothing too extravagant really. Just some dried onions, carrots and potatoes in the pot with some dried Horker and the seasonings I wanted. I let it all stew for about an hour over the low heat of the fire and we ate in comfortable silence as the stars shone above us.