Why no Varla Stones? : V

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 4:49 am

I have yet to find a single varla stone in skyrim. Has anyone encountered one yet? Are they in the game at all? If not, why?

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 1:58 am

There isn't any Elvin Ruins in Skyrim.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 7:33 am

Because there are no Ayleids in Skyrim?

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 3:58 am

The Ayleids were pretty much confined to Cyrodiil and Valenwood. The Altmer probably have similar, but no-one else is getting their hands on them.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 10:47 am

The same reason there were no Dwemer ruins in Oblivion.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 1:47 am

There are plenty of traders and other NPC's that came from the various regions and no one thought to bring any along?
I would assume you would find one or two as prizes for various fetch quests. Or maybe even in the Dwemer ruins as an ornament. Or even on a falmer that they carry as a prize for kicking the elves out of Skyrim?

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 5:19 am

There are plenty of traders and other NPC's that came from the various regions and no one thought to bring any along?
I would assume you would find one or two as prizes for various fetch quests. Or maybe even in the Dwemer ruins as an ornament. Or even on a falmer that they carry as a prize for kicking the elves out of Skyrim?

I guess the Varla stone trade exists in the same mirror universe as Imga/Maormer/Sload travelers and different breeds of Khajiit living in the same province

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 2:15 pm

I miss daedric ruins from Morrowind. We got our dwemer nostalgia and it was too soon for more ayleids...

Maybe they thought doing that would be too soon as well because we technically delved into a lot of daedra stuff in the last game. But next game? I want my purplish-red ruins back. Scamps and nipble-pierced Ogrims and all!

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 11:50 am

I miss daedric ruins from Morrowind. We got our dwemer nostalgia and it was too soon for more ayleids...

Maybe they thought doing that would be too soon as well because we technically delved into a lot of daedra stuff in the last game. But next game? I want my purplish-red ruins back. Scamps and nipble-pierced Ogrims and all!

I cant even remember the color of the ruins in Oblivion. I always enchant a helmet with light as soon as possible so all the ruins always have that white/blue glow to them.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 2:15 pm

There isn't any Elvin Ruins in Skyrim.

Because there are no Ayleids in Skyrim?

The Ayleids were pretty much confined to Cyrodiil and Valenwood. The Altmer probably have similar, but no-one else is getting their hands on them.

The same reason there were no Dwemer ruins in Oblivion.

All of that^^^^

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 4:25 pm

I cant even remember the color of the ruins in Oblivion. I always enchant a helmet with light as soon as possible so all the ruins always have that white/blue glow to them.

In Oblivion we got gates moreso than ruins. And they were basically the same color as Oblivion (the place) and the dremora as well; your typical 'ooh evil!' black and red, volcanic hell sort of theme.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 12:13 pm

There are plenty of traders and other NPC's that came from the various regions and no one thought to bring any along?
I would assume you would find one or two as prizes for various fetch quests. Or maybe even in the Dwemer ruins as an ornament. Or even on a falmer that they carry as a prize for kicking the elves out of Skyrim?

Falmer/Snow elves =/= Ayleids.

keep in mind Cyrodill was ravaged by war. Ayleid ruins may have been lost. Furthermore, there's always the possibility that the Champion of Cyrodill/the new Sheogorath has all the varla/welkynd stones.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 3:19 pm

There are plenty of traders and other NPC's that came from the various regions and no one thought to bring any along?
I would assume you would find one or two as prizes for various fetch quests. Or maybe even in the Dwemer ruins as an ornament. Or even on a falmer that they carry as a prize for kicking the elves out of Skyrim?

Those stones were locked up in ruins, the Empire is in shambles, Skyrim is in civil war. This not only makes them harder to get, but it also makes trade more difficult and they would be a relative niche market to begin with. No reason to risk your life for them if it serves no purpose, or if just the possibility of selling them gets you into one kind of a danger after the other. I'd also imagine that selling them would be illegal, so a lot of people would want to avoid doing that, and it's probably easier to find people who are interested in them in Cyrodiil as well, with the college of whisperers and the Synod being there.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 2:00 am

A better question might be, why is there nothing in Skyrim that's similar in functionality to a varla stone?

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 3:07 am

A better question might be, why is there nothing in Skyrim that's similar in functionality to a varla stone?

Because it's an Ayleid thing, the Dwemer had different technology, the Nords didn't really get into contact with them as much until during the wars of Alessia and then only to wipe them out, not to steal their technology and magic.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 2:34 pm

Because it's an Ayleid thing, the Dwemer had different technology, the Nords didn't really get into contact with them as much until during the wars of Alessia and then only to wipe them out, not to steal their technology and magic.

Who says it has to be Dwemer? All it really is is a sort of super soul gem. It just refills them all at one time, versus refilling each one individually with multiple gems. There could be any number of sources for something like that.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 1:54 am

Who says it has to be Dwemer?

There are three options:

1. Dwemer = Superior technology so no use
2. Nords = Hate elves, hate magic, wouldn't use it if it was made of gold. Also their primary contact was a war, so they were more intent on killing then on learning
3. Falmer = This is possible, however Falmer society has been wiped otu first by the Nords and then by the Dwemer and what is left is what you see in game today.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 4:16 am

The same reason there were no Dwemer ruins in Oblivion.

There was the Orrery quests in oblivion. Werent those Dwemer?

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 11:41 am

A better question might be, why is there nothing in Skyrim that's similar in functionality to a varla stone?

I guess that the return of Enchanting as a skill gives new life to the whole soul gem aspect, and maybe the devs wanted you, as a player, to make a choice between using your precious Grand Soul Gem to enchant something or to recharge your weapon.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 11:58 am

There was the Orrery quests in oblivion. Werent those Dwemer?

Idea was stolen from the Dwemer, the orrery however stood in the Mages Guild in the Imperial city.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 10:06 am

There was the Orrery quests in oblivion. Werent those Dwemer?

Yes, but the parts were being delivered from Morrowind, so I assume that is were it was originally sited.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 6:35 am

haha, this turned out to be a great little discussion. Thanks all!
Obviously im not mad they are missing, just something I noticed. Im not 100% up to speed on all the lore, so thanks for clearing some of that up for me.
Im just kind of suprised I havent ran into one of them as a prize of some sort, i did not expect to see dozens of them like in past installments of the series.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 10:32 am

Falmer/Snow elves =/= Ayleids.

keep in mind Cyrodill was ravaged by war. Ayleid ruins may have been lost. Furthermore, there's always the possibility that the Champion of Cyrodill/the new Sheogorath has all the varla/welkynd stones.

You just brought up another opportunity to perhaps loot a Varla stone. During the Madness Daedric quest in Skyrim. The wabbajack is a hell of a prize, but if sheogorath is sitting on a bunch of them we should have seen one at his table.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 4:35 pm

-Snip- Im not 100% up to speed on all the lore -Snip-

You should go to the lore forums and ask what CHIM is

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 9:06 am

You just brought up another opportunity to perhaps loot a Varla stone. During the Madness Daedric quest in Skyrim. The wabbajack is a hell of a prize, but if sheogorath is sitting on a bunch of them we should have seen one at his table.

Sheogorath is visiting.

You should go to the lore forums and ask what CHIM is :biggrin:

Let's take it easy shall we?