Mai'q the Liar

I thought about coming up with a fun pun for the name of this article, but the mere thought of Mai'q is enough to bring everyone more joy than Santa Clause and Pokémon put together.

Mai'q as he appeared in Morrowind

For those of you who don't know who Mai'q the Liar is or his purpose in the game, allow me to illuminate your minds - It'll be my pleasure. Then you can tell me in the comment section, why you learn useless information like when the second world war was or how much time passes before your brain register that you're full, instead of checking up on important stuff like Mai'q!

Mai'q the Liar is a Khajit who first appeared in Morrowind, with the purpose of admitting some company humor to the game - kind of an Easter Egg. What Mai'q does is simple - He lies and spread deceitful rumors about things that fans wanted to be in the game or complained wouldn't be in the game, prior to its release.

Take for instance this one quote of his: "You wish to become a lich? It's very easy, my friend. Simply find the heart of a lich, combine it with the tongue of a dragon, and cook it with the flesh of a well-ridden horse. This combination is certain to make you undead." Which is a reference to a wish among the fans, granting us the ability to become a lich. None of the ingredients actually exists in the game.

Mai'q also returns in Oblivion, running at an extreme speed between cities. Everytime you meet him, he has a different quote for you - A good one is this: "I do not wish to fight on horseback. It is a good way to ruin a perfectly good horse... which is, to say, a perfectly good dinner." Which is a reference to the lack of mounted combat, which won't be included in Skyrim either, surely making hundreds of fans cry their eyes out.

Will Mai'q be with us in Skyrim? I gotta say, I don't believe he will. 200 years have passed since the story of Oblivion took place - How long do Khajit live? I have no idea, but I doubt that it's that long. Still, if he isn't in Skyrim, I am sure that they'll give us an equivalent that we will all enjoy!

Mai'q as he appeared in Oblivion

Lore: The Calendar

When I was playing Oblivion, I was often baffled by the calendar and all of the names I saw for weekdays and Months, so I decided to take up the project of re-creating that calendar with paper and glue - Needless to say, I didn't get farther than getting the paper before giving into the temptation of drawing characters from Dragonball Z and forgetting all about it.

Later on I wrote down the Months and days so that I could at least learn what the heck they meant - I was wonderfully close to our own calendar, called the Gregorian Calendar and also know as the Western Calendar.

I here present the equivalents of the two calendars:

Morning Star - January
Sun's Dawn - February
First Seed - March
Rain's Hand - April
Second Seed - May
Midyear - June
Suns Height - July
Last Seed - August
Heartfire - September
Frost Fall - October
Suns Dusk - November
Evening Star - December

As you can see, there is no fricken difference except for the names - The number of days are the same, even on leap years. Speaking of days, let us see what they are called:

Morndas - Monday
Tirdas - Tuesday
Middas - Wednesday
Turdas - Thursday
Fredas - Friday
Loredas - Saturday
Sundas - Sunday

Some of these names sound awfully close to the Danish names for each day, making me think that this calendar may actually have originated in Skyrim, given the "Viking" theme they have going on. If so, then all the better.

If you'd care to check your own calendar, you will notice that we are only a 104 days away from the release of Skyrim, or should I say, the meaning of our lives.

Why magic will be more entertaining!

Previously, being a magician has been dull - seriously!! In Oblivion, I tried to get some great RP experiences, so I decided to make a High Elf mage, just for the story telling. Needless to say, it quickly got boring to a point where I read my first non-mandatory book (The Templar Legacy.)

Why has it been so dull and joyless? I'm guessing it's partly because of the animations. They were all the same, you see. Apart from Fire, Lighting and Frost, which were slightly different, all other spell made the character raise his hand above his head and emit a shining light.

Magic is supposed to make you feel powerful, altering the fabrics of reality as well as destroying huge beasts with minimal effort. Like in most other RPG's, magic-users should be the guys dealing maximum damage, firing off great big fireballs with their fingers and creating storms by mere chanting, but still they would have to stay in the back of the group, 'cause a gnome with a feather-duster could take them down if it came in close. I am not saying that we should be THAT physically weak in The Elder Scrolls, I am merely saying that we should be able to feel like real powerful, badass spellweavers.

Alas, I finally think we can. Looking at the footage from various Skyrim demonstrations (1,) I have to say that the spells really are looking up. Not only does each spell feature unique animation art, but they also look powerful. Just seeing that fireball getting thrown out there, gets me more excited than the first time I watched Pokemon! You know, I caught the very first episode that aired in Denmark, by coincidence (fame.)

We can also actually DO things with our magic this time. We can lay traps, shoot of bolts and balls, create a wave of flames around us and furthermore, other spells than the destructive ones are useful too. Hats off, I never really figured out what the hell Frenzy was for in Oblivion, but in Skyrim, we have been given a splendid demonstration.

Todd Howard, or lets call him by his real name; God has given us an example at E3. 2 Marauders were standing guard at Bleak Falls Barrow and he used frenzy on one of them, from a distance mind you. Suddenly, the victim went Chuck Norris on his co-guards ass. Now if that doesn't make you feel powerful, I don't know what does!