Because a Stormcloak victory means less troops for the Imperial legion to defend the Imperial city. The Thalmor pretty much know that the humans will outbreed them and therefore regain their strength faster than the elves. To take the Imperial City, the Thalmor have to break every last alliance the Cyrodiils still have, which isn't many since the Emperor's has been a [censored] to Hammerfell and the Redguards were able to fend off the Thalmor on their own.
The Thalmor can't take Skyrim in the next years, the terrain is horrible for a full scale war and they pretty much know that the Nords, beeing the thickheaded brutes they can be, will wreck them if they attack. Needless to say that the Thalmor won't get past Hammerfell or High Rock anyway, since the Redguards... well they are the Redguards and the Bretons don't have anything else to do besides killing each other anyway and therefore have very good training in warfare.
The Imperials on the other side got wrecked up the most during the Great War and are share a common border with the Aldmeri Dominion (Valenwood and maybe Elsweyr). If the Thalmor want to eradicate humanity, they have to start with Cyrodiil, and Skyrim under Imperial banner would make things so much more difficult.

Problem is, they can't really allow the Stormcloaks to win either since Skyrim itself will be even more dangerous if Ulfric wins. It's not really great to have some of the toughest human warriors, besides the Redbadasses of course. It's even worse if the leader of said humans is the one guy you used to torture when he was young and he basically feeds of the general elf hatred that's been around in Skyrim since the first men were slaughtered by the Falmer. That's why the Thalmor want an ungoing war.

The Nords seem to be a diverse people, ranging from warriors, nobles, simple farmers and traders to priests and mages to thielfs and assassins, but I would assume "true nord" means culturally ideal nord. If so I would look at the beliefs and philosophy of the Companions.
Skill at arms is highly valued.
Politics are something best avoided if one can, but if you do intend to do the civil war quest-line you should consider the fact that it is a civil war because the nords are split between the Legion and the Stormcloaks. Neither is more appealing to true nords than the other.
Sneaking and rumors should be left to the ones who are too weak to fight for themselves.
A general distrust for magic seem to be the most common opinion of the people, though most Jarls deem it useful enough to have a court wizard.


StrelokCH: I was under the impression that the Thalmor do not want eitehr side to win because they believe they cannot take the Empire with or without Skyrim. If they believed they had the strength to do so they would secretly support the Stormcloaks so they could use the Divide and Conqueor strategi, but since they are afraid of the civil war ending at all the only logical conclution is that their victory is dependant on the Empire and the Stormcloaks continued war.

Winrawr

Well, the Vikings dominated trade in the Baltic area before the Hansa League. They even extended their trading all the way to Byzantium, and in the process more or less founded the city of Novgorod and laid the groundwork for the future state of Russia. They apparently were also the first Europeans to explore the American continent and trade with the locals there.

So, in order to properly emulate that, maybe you should initially just explore the whole map and focus on improving your trading and political skills by getting all your perks from the Speech tree.

Yap, that's what we get from the dossier on Ulfric. If the war is ended, both sides can concentrate on the Thalmor and that's bad for them. However the Imperial victory is the worst case scenario while the Stormcloak victory is a bit less sh*tt, although just for the reason that Cyrodiil alone can still be beaten, Cyrodiil with Skyrim soldiers on its side not.

Unless I am reading it completely wrong your argument is contridicting itself. You say that the Stormcloaks are the better choice, but then you say Cyrodiil may fall without Skyrim, but will win with it

I wrote that pretty confusing on second thought. Let's just put it this way:
Imperial victory = Cyrodiil and Skyrim together = bad for Thalmor.
Stormcloak victory = Cyrodiil alone = not as bad for Thalmor.
War going on = Cyrodiil alone and weaken = good for Thalmor.

Then we share the same opinion then

it does make sense but look at it in a roleplaying aspect if you are playing a nord
you are the first and only dragonborn of this era and the first since talos ( tiber septium? sp) you are destined to become more than just the slayer of alduin , this civil war is trivial compared to the dragon menance and what will follow , maybe you will create the next empire out of the ashes of the old , who knows

point is there is nothing wrong being a true nord and being proud of your heritage , what is wrong is the biassed and ultra nationalistic views of that fat powerhungry pig who calls himself ulfric

This again... If we compare how Ulfric treats Dunmer (former and maybe still enemies), Argonians (strange foreigners), Imperials (active enemies) and Altmer (Nazi-type enemies), there was never any leader in the real world or Tamriel who was so "kind" to his foes.
You know what medieval leaders did to enemies on sight? Killing was nice. The ancient cultures of Europa, Africa and Asia treated criminals of their own people less generously than Ulfric his enemies. Whole Tamriel is pretty peaceful compared to our world (we had more than one "Thalmor" type organization), but even Tiber Septim and Vivec were bigger jerks than Ulfric. The Stormcloaks don't have a secret police (other than Almsivi and the Imperials), they fight a surprisingly clean war.

Look at Niranye or Arivanya in Windhelm, they are Altmer living in the Stormcloak capitol. This is like going back in time to Berlin 1939 and waving the CCCP flag, and they still live. If Ulfric was as racist and violent as people tell, there would be a lot more dead elves in Skyrim, SC terretory would basically be a dead zone for elves and Imperials.

True Nords emulate Ysgramor

You have 2 fighting styles

Battleaxe
Scaled Armor

War axe + Shield
Scaled Armor

One of these load-outs is for elf / milk drinker killing, the other is for fighting real warriors who can actually hurt you.

You are your own man/lass...

Picking sides or worshiping Talos does not make you a true Nord!

Sample build
One handed
Two Handed
Block
Light Armor
Smithing

Don't forget the beard. A true Nord sports the thickest beards!

It should be said, and I don't see many saying it, that Nords are not Vikings. They're not even of the Germanic tribes (though they certainly may resemble them more, as pussnheels said). Nords are a race of magic aliens living on a planet called Nirn! I'm sure you're right, Sokjal, about the role of milk in the Viking diet, but we all have to remember that Nords are different, with the crazy super power of frost resistance that doesn't come from diet or exercise or anything else. They were "just made that way".

That said, you've inspired me ... if I ever make a Nord, I will probably subscribe to a lot of the stereotypes, but I will make him a proud milk drinker who loves to start fights on that basis. "I'll show you what a milk drinker can do," that kind of thing. Maybe I will even say he is even more cold resistant because of it. Thanks for the good info and the inspiration

The Greybeards are the truest of the Nords. Follow the Way of the Voice, and you will be the true Son of Kyne.

My main character is a male Nord.

Long blonde hair, Blue eyes. Slight beard. Wears heavy armor (Dragon plate as it looks like the Nord Trollbone armor from Morrowind, so I guess it is Nord - I don't where the helmet though as it looks crap and my Nord's head look cool with his long hair).

I'd personally go with axe and a shield. A good combo and its easy to level block up. Support with archery for ranged attacks but stay away from things like destruction. You have both close and range attack and you'll be wasting precious levelling up points.


The most Norse (as in the Scandinavian) armors are ancient Nord, iron & steel. That or the city guard and Stormcloak armor.

I don't think Steel Plate & Ebony are very Norse looking. They are more southern & central European influenced and I'm guessing are supposed to be later Imperial.

The light armors in Skyrim are rubbish. Hide, Studded and Scaled I think are supposed to be Nord native armors. To me Hide and studded look more African. When I first saw the Redguard in Whiterun wearing it, I thought it was an Redguard armor with an African influence.

Wolf armor is an in-game native Nord armor. That armor was also a Nord armor featured in the Blood Moon expansion for Morrowind.

that's very true, but i thought i read somewhere that he wanted to base his character on vikings so thought i get all the fact out there

If you want to make a "true" nord just look up info about their heroes(Ysgramor, Tsun, Wulfharth) and Shor. He's their big role model.

http://www.imperial-library.info/search/node/shor


Basically promote the superiority of man's religion. Achieve heaven through violence. That sort of thing.

Even the 'J' being pronounced as a 'Y' is Scandinavian. That and Slavic. I think its hard to dispute the Norse influence on the Nords. Even the boats look Scandinavian.

I for one like to see real world cultures influence the races. Isn't all successful rpg and similar fantasy world based on real world mythologies? Even Tolkien based his world on Germanic mythology. The only thing he invented was the Orc. Dwarves, Elves, Ogres, Dragons etc are all from Germanic mythology

A real norse warrior dress code
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/7761/beowulf30nv.jpg
http://irisharchaeology.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Viking_warriors.jpg

A fantasy Norse warrior
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQUjo7O1pT6K2GeAx1wH83DE06smYGQ5SClx_3ShJo7AP2vGqjdRxBt-jLB

also true but since it's inspierd from not "are" a culture there may be some differences (mby went a bit to for talking about their food habbits ). but i don't think he deny that there are no influensess at all just pointing out there may be some things that are different

No more than Elves, Dwarves or Ogres were really running around Scandinavia or Titans were around Greece .

True, but that's not an option for my woman

Should've been a Tolkien Dwarf then

A True Nord should be a warrior or a barbarian,Proud what she/he is.
Proud of skyrim,Blonde hair.Beard if you are a man. maybe warpaint (blue)
Wearing fur and pelt armor/clothes.

Hahaha True, but then I wouldn't be a Nord now, would I

Oh, influence, sure. No argument here. I just think it's very important to remember the distinction. Nords are a lot like the Norse, sure. It's great to take inspiration from them. Just don't make the mistake of saying "Nords are Vikings", because they're not. They're Slav-like aliens from a fantasy planet.