#whatoddities

Olyn Dram @bedlamdram

for @whatoddities as a surprise gift :)

@whatoddities 👀💖

There is very little which could convince Fria to part with her puppets. Even old, broken ones are more likely to be disassembled and repurposed than sold on to anyone who offers to pay for them. It’s less out of sentimentality than with the aim of protecting her business - if people got hold of her puppets, they could become a rival, and Fria has a reasonably solid monopoly over puppet shows in Skyrim at the moment.

Damon owns a small jewelry store called Aeternum Rex! There, he displays jewelry such a necklaces, earrings, pendants, rings, bracelets, and watches of high quality. His clientele mostly consists of wealthy individuals.

What everyone doesn’t know, is that Damon is also an incredibly experienced thief and pickpocket. A great number of his jewelry and watch collection are stolen from the rich! These rich people then come to Damon’s shop to get a replacement, and the cycle continues. Profit!!!

Most non-wealthy people usually pass the store by. It appears upscale and so they tend not to linger long, knowing they cannot afford what is on display. This means that when a client does show up who is not rich, it is rare enough that Damon can offer a hefty discount for the person’s special occasion (engagement, wedding, anniversary, holiday, etc).

For legal reasons, Damon is the only one involved in the thievery, and the only one who knows about it. His employees are not informed of where his “stock” comes from, unless he can provide a legitimate source. His hope is that, by keeping it heavily secretive, he not only keeps himself safe, but his employees.

Speaking of his employees, he often gives working positions to youths who are in desperate need to become financially stable, either due to a bad home situation, no home, need to pay for medication, and any other reasons. As a man who came from an abusive home, himself, if he can provide these young adults the ability to stand better on their own two feet and have a better financial foundation for their future, that’s what he wants.

He pays them a living wage and treats them very well. He has a zero tolerance rule for customers who treat his employees badly or for employees being hurtful to one another. No bigotry. All requests for accommodations or help are taken seriously and respectfully. Days off are allowed whenever requested, on the honor system. This way, his employees feel valued and their physical and mental health respected.

Employees have jobs including stocking shelves, keeping the shelves and rooms clean, taking inventory and counting money. More advanced positions include jewelry repair person and jewelry designer. Damon, himself, is well-versed in gemology and jewelry appraisal.

Underground: What dose your muse think of the Dwemer ruins? Do they steal anything from there?

Dalamus is not fond of caves, and even less fond of Dwemer ruins. He has heard more than a few tales of the trap-ridden ruins and their unsolved puzzles--and while that intrigues him, he is not willing to risk life or limb to see if he can run the gauntlet and escape alive.

Not to mention, he would have no idea how to defeat any sort of automoton! With flesh and blood beings, he has many choices: go for vitals, tire them out, overpower them, kill them via many small injuries, hit them with a heavy or pointy-enough rock, etc. But.. metal things held together with electricity and magic? His daggers are useless, and even his strength matters little.

For him to enter a Dwemer ruin, he would need trusted company and a fantastical reward. He would steal any precious gems he could find, of course, as well as a few choice Dwemer machinery components, though he does not know what value they hold.

Reading: Can your muse read, if they can then what’s their favorite book?

Dalamus can read thanks to his mother and many many years of teaching himself. He enjoys reading guides to skills, such as lockpicking, lock making, and combat techniques.

He also has a soft spot for Purloined Shadows, as it is his daughter’s favorite book, and one he spent many a night reading to her. I think his personal favorites, however, are Chance’s Folly, Immortal Blood, and The Woodcutter’s Wife.

Lich: How dose your muse view necromancy and the undead?

Dalamus views necromancy with suspicion at best, and terror at worst.

As with most magic (although he is slowly reading about the different schools in an attempt to wrap his head around them), Dalamus misunderstands the abilities which Necromancy bestows.

He knows it can be used to raise the dead, thus making the raised dead undead, and control those undead beings.

But he also believes that, with himself being undead, Necromancy has some power over him, too. He was “raised” from the dead, after all, in a sense. He is undead. And the possibility that someone might be able to control him with magic is terrifying. (For the same reason, he is petrified of illusion magic.) He also has past trauma from being captured by Necromancers and being experimented on as they tried to “bring him back to life”, all the while treating him worse than an animal.

Dalamus has some close friends, certainly! Tortulja and Shadrach are among his closest friends, a couple of the first to wholly accept him as a vampire, and they’re practically family if you ask him. He’d trust them with his life, and protect them with his life, without hesitation.

He trusts Thias a great deal, as well, despite him being a Vampire Hunter! Thias knew Dalamus to be a vampire before Dalamus even told him (due to his Hunter training and frequent friendly proximity to Dal), yet never treated him differently, earning a great deal of Dalamus’ respect.

He is fairly close with Brielle, a Breton mage, despite his fear of magic, because of her friendliness which made her easy to approach. Rather than abject fear upon learning of his vampirism, she expressed curiosity. Her openness made her a quick friend.